This morning, I put pen to inside title page of my first sold copy of “Why Kimba Saved The World” and signed it to my dear friend Annette Bridges. I had several orders to fill today, some of them even from family, but Annette’s order was the first I received. It only seemed fitting that she should get the official “first copy.” Annette and I are the epitome of a 21st century friendship.  I’m not sure how we first connected, but we bonded over a shared love of writing. She recommended me as a columnist for www.religionandspirituality.com, and I loved the year or so that I wrote “Spiritually Significant Cinema” for them. It gave me the chance to not only go to every movie preview showing in town, but also to interview the likes of Kirk Douglas, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Sylvester Stallone. Unfortunately, another job I held at the time felt these columns were a waste of my time and highly discouraged me from continuing. So I let it slide. But my friendship with Annette continued. We have kept in touch through the social magic that is Facebook. These days, as we both move into the book self-publishing game, we have begun reading and previewing each other’s work. But here’s why I think we are a perfect example of a modern friendship–we have never actually met, face to face. The power of the internet allows us to chat freely through email and follow each other’s life-journeys over Facebook. Just because I have never been in the same room with this friend doesn’t mean I don’t feel just as close to her as folks I worked side by side with for years.  It doesn’t matter where in the world we end up, I have a feeling that we will still be in touch 20 years (and hopefully dozens of books between us) from now. As people who respect each other often do, I’ll share my friend’s web site so you can check out her delightful book, “The Gospel According to Mama.” I’ve already read a preview of the sequel and written a heart-felt endorsement. As my first sold copy of “Kimba” whisks its way through the mail to Annette (along with 3 other copies she ordered), I will share her web page link as the first of many people I highly recommend.

www.annettebridges.com