geraldine donaher  

 

I started writing my first novel at 44. Five years later, I still wake up, panic stricken, in the middle of the night thinking I documented something in the wrong year, misspelled piqued, misspelled ‘misspelled’, or bored some person to death who was kind enough to pick up my book and try to read it. In the night, the panic moments can last hours.  In January of 2015, the sleep-gods took pity on me and sent me an email from Cindy Falteich. I didn’t know her, never heard of her, and had no idea what I was getting into when I clicked on the webpage she thoughtfully included in the email.

 

Ahhhh – thank you sleep-gods for a friend who reminds me not to take the bumps along the road so seriously.

 

Cindy is the rare person who sees opportunity with every ‘no’. She doesn’t let the small stuff take her down. Instead, she walks around it and then looks up, taking notice of the field flowers up along the hill.

 

Refreshing, right?  Even after her own hard knocks along the way, Cindy has the confidence and intelligence to step back and re-evaluate – without all the unnecessary, time consuming negative self-talk:

 

“You have to look up, you know?” She explained to me, “When a bull rider looks at the ground, that’s where he’s going – down. Watch a bull ride competition and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. They go down fast once they look at the ground. They have to get back on that bull, and look up. You get a longer ride that way.”

 

Cindy has written four novels and her The Aliquot Sum is being made into a movie. What’s her Philadelphia Connection? She believes in the city and supports her producer who wants to use Philadelphia talent for the movie and soundtrack. Cindy is hands-on with the movie, “I’ve already met wonderful local musicians for the soundtrack. It’s only the beginning, but it’s a beginning.” 

 

Comedian, horse trainer, small business owner, writer; Cindy’s been them all. Every twist and turn from her past brings an authentic voice to her writing. Visit Cindy at www.cindyfalteich.com for the fresh perspective I use whenever I need to get back up and keep riding, or when I need to shut 'the panic' off in order to fall back to sleep.

 

Read In Cindy’s Own Words for her personal responses to my questions about her writing career.

 

See Cindy in a recent interview with Rick Anthony.