So glad you enjoyed the story about McCarthy and the toothpaste, Heidi.

I just learned of it, but it’s already one of my favorites — in part, because so many authors have a similar anecdote about help that arrived when they’d all but given up hope. They thought: What a weird coincidence that this check or assignment or something else along came just when I needed it.

Often it wasn’t a coincidence, though. It was the result of years of effort that paid off in an unexpected way.