So here’s the cover of my October book.

No, this post isn’t about my book. At least not yet. Just keep reading to the end. Then you’ll see why I’m shamelessly promoting myself. 

A couple of weekends ago, I lost my girl in Babies R Us. She was only out of my sight for maybe five minutes total. One second, she was by my side while I thumbed through a rack of PJ’s. The next she was gone. As soon as I realized she was gone, I sent hubby to the front of the store to make sure no one left with her. I notified a store employee. I searched in ever-widening circles, calling out her name. 

I barely kept a rein on my panic. My heart was thundering. My throat tight. My imagination had taken flight. In my mind, she hadn’t just wandered off. She’d been snatched. We’d never find her. She was already being hustled out the back of the store and into a car. Her fate was unthinkable. 

I lived a lifetime of sorrow and remorse in those few minutes. And then I found her, sitting on the ground, behind an aisle of toys, humming to herself, not ten feet from where I’d been. She was safe. She was fine. Never in any danger. But in those briefs minutes she’d been missing, my imagination had complete control of my mind and my body.

It’s a powerful thing, we have, this ability to transport ourselves with our minds. And it’s not just in our minds either. Our bodies have physiologically responses to what our minds imagine.  It’s an amazing thing when you think about it. It’s what separates us from every other creature on earth. At least as far as we know, no one but humans can imagine.

That day at Babies R Us, I cursed my vivid imagination. My morning would have been much more relaxing if I’d been able to calmly search the store for my missing daughter until I found her. No fear. No panic. No tears or nausea. But most days, I’m profoundly thankful for my imagination. 

It’s what gives me the ability to write books. More importantly, it’s what makes reading books pleasurable. It’s the difference a book conveying information and transporting you to another world. And,frankly there’s nothing else like it in the world. Movies and TV entertain and amuse, but they don’t engage the imagination in quite the same way. That’s what makes books so special. 

And now, here’s an awkward segue back to my book …. 

Come October my new book, Baby Benefits, will be released by Silhouette Desire. Since it’s the sequel to my April book, Baby on the Billionaire’s Doorstep, I’ll be giving away a copy of that to one of the people who responds to today’s post.

When was the last time your imagination got the better of you?