Red-Letter Days Begin With Red-Letter Friends

According to the Cambridge Dictionary a “Red-Letter Day”  is a,

 “Special, happy and important day you will always remember.”

And rather appropriately the Cambridge Dictionary use example given is:

“The day I set foot in America was a red-letter day for me.”  

Ironically that actually applies to me personally. Seemingly eons ago but then I guess it was in the last century, 1981 in fact!  When my first transatlantic flight, Pan Am 101 touched down at J.F.K. Airport from London, Heathrow, I truly believed I had indeed, arrived. And with me were my late father and my now husband, Paul.

Defining moments as a writer and being at a crossroads when navigating the journey of life as a human are noteworthy, and so I’m marking my inaugural blog here at NikkiAlvin-Smith.com as a red-letter day.

I am sincerely thankful for all that I have experienced to date in the U.S.A. and proud of the small things that I have contributed this great land and wonderful people. Whether that be working hard to get American exports across the seas; writing ‘How to’ works on horse care and training to try and help others; creating content as a professional PR/Marketing specialist to help others grow their businesses or proudly producing three kind-hearted, compassionate children now young adults that I know help others in the world. 

The significance of impact that the ripple effect  has on us all cannot be overstated. You never know what transpires when, where and to who in life as a result of your own existence.

But this particular red-letter day is the accomplishment of selling my first book under my own name as author, Nikki Alvin-Smith. And giving thanks to my first customers, Gary and Beth Lerner. Who are red-letter friends that go way back in my journey.

Gary and Beth bought the first book from the first print run of my First Edition of The Dutchess of Chadwick (yes, the ‘t’ in Dutchess is on purpose, it is the traditional language of the era in which the book is set, The Gilded Age).

As most of my fellow authors and aspiring writers know, first book sales are usually in your ‘soft circle’ of friends and family. And this is certainly true for me. Gary and Beth, who live on Long Island, NY, are truly red-letter friends.



Hubbie and I have known Gary since we all worked together back at J.F.K. all those years ago. Since 1982 in fact. Our working relationship included much laughter and fun times, mishaps and misadventures. There were notable expressions that developed to help us all through the hectic workdays.

“Another day, another dollar,” was usually heard around 5.30 p.m. (or more often later, days were long and arduous) as we closed the office.

A favorite adage bandied about was, “It works on paper”. This one was forged to address the frustrating experiences out in the warehouse. The utterance of this expression often charged with variant emotions and expletives depending on how things were going. It applied to the process of loading a 20’ or 40’ ocean container. Our job was to fill it with a myriad of freight of various dimensions and weights that sometimes wouldn’t quite fit. Though the paperwork mathematics said it should.

The is not the same as writing a novel, but in the literal sense I do hope that The Dutchess of Chadwick does, “Work on paper”.

Beth was always in the picture, and Gary and Beth were always meant to journey together on this temporal plane. That was immediately clear to both Paul and I. And like many good friendships that are woven together closely for a time, despite parting ways workwise and geographically, we kept in touch over the many years while we grew our families and we all diverged to follow our careers.

Beth is a kindred creative spirit with some seriously good talents in her TV career, being nominated twice for her editing skills for an Emmy award. Since then she has taken her creative flair to further heights with her renowned jewelry designs, Beth Lerner Jewelry. Please give it a look! You can buy online or if you are in the Long Island area,  you can find her showcase at the  Arts in the Plaza, Long Beach’s Weekly Arts Festival that runs May through October each year. I could see the Dutchess of Chadwick wearing some of her designs!



That Gary and Beth should be the first to hold a copy of my book in their hands is truly a full circle moment. And I am very happy to see them both living life to the fullest despite the struggles they have endured along the way.

Whatever creative path you walk, whether you are crafting jewelry or writing a book, or working on a team at a TV station, part of the great fun of being a creative spirit is letting our imaginations take hold of our minds and explore new dimensions, ideas and figure out a way to share them with others.

Whether that time is spent creating characters, divining works of fine art, studies from behind a lens, or working in ceramics, precious metals, stone or other mediums, the experiences are similar. There are moments of oblique frustration; moments of sincere happiness; moments of self-doubt and always humbling experiences.

Sharing a part of yourself with others and putting it out on full view is not easy. But for some of us it is our destiny. And one we thoroughly embrace.

Another part of being a creative spirit is the earnest collaboration and support that you can enjoy with others. Whether they be in your lane directly, indirectly or are aligned somewhere else entirely. Writers groups, reader groups, art groups or whatever - it doesn’t matter.

Mutual appreciation and respect for the process of producing something unique and personal is an exploratory challenge fellow creatives empathize with and often, like helps like through the voyage.

So as I celebrate this red-letter day, that I wish my late father and late younger brother were both here to witness, I give thanks to all that have played a part, big or small, known or unknown in getting me here. I cherish my family, friends, mentors, and all are red-letter parts of this day.

It’s been a fabulous adventure thus far, and despite ‘pink sister’ bumps in the road and other such  impediments, I hope it will continue for many years to come. 

So saddle up and tighten the girth if you want to come along for the ride. All are welcome to join up – The BookSmith Club is open not just to writers and readers, but to artists and all creatives too.