An aha moment:  a sudden understanding, recognition, or resolution.

Two years ago  I experienced a monumental aha moment.

My cell phone woke me up that infamous July morning, the familiar sound vibrating against the night stand.  Grabbing the phone, I squinted to read the long string of messages.  One name immediately caught my eye, a publisher had returned my email request.  A real publisher answered.

I had started to send email queries to publishers that summer and eagerly awaited responses.  At that point, I was about a month into the query routine.  Twenty requests had gone out and only ten replied.  Those ten declined, “your book doesn’t fit our genre.” The other ten hadn’t responded yet.

Squinting at the screen, I put on my glasses to confirm the message.  “Please send me your manuscript, I would love to read it.”  Magical words appeared on my screen.

An aha moment had come my way, but I was filled with both fear and happiness.  I recognized something was going to change in my life.  Although ecstatic, I was also afraid.  Once I’d composed the email with the manuscript file attached, I was petrified to press the send key.  But I embraced my aha moment.

My aha moment has changed my life.  Thank you Amy Osmond Cook!