Grouchy Woman Puts Out Book About Joy

Nashville, TN, December 23, 2015 (Newswire.com) - S. K. Richter hasn’t always been a grouch.  She started out as a very happy child and can be seen smiling broadly in many of her old family photographs. And despite an onslaught of troubles in her youth, Richter remained upbeat through her twenties and into her thirties. “But, of course, life does have a way of wearing people down over time,” she says. “We are like stones, exposed to the rough elements of living, and it changes us little by little.”

In her early thirties, feeling her natural capacity for joy mysteriously beginning to decline, Richter began to seek out and write down ways to “set the scene” for joy to happen. Even more, she hoped to find and record ways to create a natural well of joy from which she could draw, if not a veritable hot spring of bliss, in herself and her life.

"Life does have a way of wearing people down over time. We are like stones, exposed to the rough elements of living, and it changes us little by little."

S. K. Richter

Eventually Richter began to turn her writings into “tips” that formed a book. She sent her draft book to a few publishers to see if anyone would take an interest. Although she received encouraging comments, in the end, each publisher relayed the same regrets—Richter wasn’t anyone in particular, she had no related credentials to write about such a topic, and ultimately there was no platform on which they could sell her book.

For the next several decades, Richter’s Book of Joy sat on a shelf in her office, though she often pulled it down when she needed to remind herself how to create blissful moments in her own life. In 2013, after graduating from an MFA program for creative writing, Richter picked up her Joy manuscript and began to reconsider it. She worked on it occasionally, though not with great diligence, still uncertain as to whether it had enough merit to warrant completion or publication.

Mid-2014, Richter forwarded a copy of the book to a niece who was struggling with finding happiness in her life. Her niece responded positively to the book’s message and felt it might be helpful to others. Next, Richter showed the book to two writer friends who also responded positively and subsequently assisted her in reorganizing and editing the book for publication. About a year later, having finished and polished the book, Richter was ready to go.

“I chose to self-publish the book because it was ready, and I was ready, and I was anxious to get it out in the world after so much time. I didn’t want to start a complex tango with traditional publishers. I didn’t have time or energy for that.”

Richter chose Lulu Press after researching the most popular self-publishing platforms and companies. After a final overhaul of the book’s structure and several more rounds of edits, Richter plunged, hand in hand with the Lulu staff, into the publishing process. Many edits, image purchases, and copyright permissions later, Richter finally signed off on the completed galley for her book and the book went to press on December 3, 2015.

“It’s quite an experience, bringing a book like this to completion,” Richter explains. “It takes many people to produce a book of this type and I am very grateful to everyone who helped me along the way.” Richter also speaks about how the content of the book has affected her own life. “Completing this book has been a blessing for me. The past few years, I’ve been dealing with difficult personal issues and I often fell squarely into the curmudgeon category if not felt downright plunged into those proverbial depths of despair. But whenever I was working on the book, my life improved. Reading the book made me feel calm, hopeful, and happier. Every time I re-read the book, it trips my memory and clicks even deeper into my subconscious, reminding me how to find the joy that is always there waiting for us. I remember where the joy is now. What more could a person ask for?”