The holiday glow is gone now. All the decorations are boxed up until next year, and my thoughts turn to the empty chair at my table. The days fly by in a bitter, cold swirl of high-stress meetings where nothing’s decided, too many cups of tea, impossible deadlines and long walks by flashlight down icy streets. Gravel crunches under my boots, reminding me I’m alone.

The wind whispers her last request, driving me indoors. My laptop screen flickers a morse code message from beyond the grave. And there’s not enough dark chocolate in the world to soothe the pain of my sister’s passing. I pick up a copy of Curse Breaker: Enchanted and I reread the end. The words I pulled raw and bleeding out of grief then shaped and molded into something beautiful offer shelter from the pain.

I rush back outside, hold my book up for the stars above to see. I shout into the spangled night that took my sister away. This one’s for you Carol. Your last wish is granted. After I shake my book one last time in triumph, I slip my earbuds in and fall into a story. It doesn’t matter which. They all push the grief away creating space for living.

Have you lost a loved one? Is there a last request hanging like a sword of Damocles over your head? There’s one floating over mine.

I promised my sister I would publish all the stories she grew up loving. It was all she ever asked of me. I wish I’d started publishing before she’d said her last goodbye.

Life’s a tale I’m living, one book at a time. I must turn the page and leave my regrets behind. I’m Melinda, the author of Curse Breaker: Enchanted and an audiobook addict.

If your Kindle’s hungry, check out these FREE books from my colleagues. Start your year off with a fantastic read!

Until next week, happy reading. I hope to hear from you.

Melinda Kucsera