A lot has been said, and a lot of blog posts have been done over the last few days since the world learned of the shocking passing of Sandrine Gasq-Dion, but this one is personal to me, and I need to share it.

Back when I first started reading MM fiction, one of the first authors I stumbled upon was this woman named Sandrine. I had no idea who she was but I really liked her Assassin Shifter series and quickly devoured every one that was out there at the time.  Somewhere along the way, I got my courage up and sent her a friend request on Facebook. To my delight, she accepted. She was the first author I’d ever sent a friend request to, so it was a big deal to me.

I quickly joined a small private Facebook group that she had the time. This one preceded her more sedate and more open group that came later. This one was set up by someone else I believe, but it was for fans of Sandy. I can’t remember exactly, but I remember the consequences and the people I’ve met because of it.

I titled this post the way I did for a reason. My favorite Christmas movie of all time is It’s a Wonderful Life. If you remember the movie, or you’re a rabid fan like me, you’ll remember that the key plot of the story is when George Bailey wishes he had never been born, and he gets a glimpse into the shadowy world that would have existed without him.

Well, I got to thinking today about the shadowy world that would have existed had Sandy not been there when she was. If I hadn’t read her books, I would never have sent her a friend request. If I had never sent it, I would never have joined that private group. If I had never joined the private group, I would never have met Matt Ortiz and Tim, I would never have met Dennis, Tara and the rest of that very smutty group. They taught me what Tumblr was really for…but that is another story for another time 😉

Without that group, I would never have met Max Vos. If I had never met Max, I would have never been introduced to Dani Elle Maas and Love Bytes. I wouldn’t have become a reviewer. I then wouldn’t have been in a position to be encouraged by Sandy, Max and the many other authors I met through this gig to explore my own writing. I wouldn’t have published that novella that Sandy highly encouraged I self-publish. (Granted…maybe I should have waited on that one, since some people are still telling me it needed more chapters). I wouldn’t have a book being published by eXtasy Books in December and a second one right behind it. I wouldn’t be halfway through writing the third in that series.

One person can effect such a huge change and chain of events for other people, and sometimes not even realize it. One of the people who caused my life to drastically change was named Sandrine Gasq-Dion. I will miss her. I’m thankful she was here, and that she impacted my life in such a major way. Big hugs in the beyond.