I attract people into my life whose positive energy is a close match to my own; there's Lawrence, the terrific skin-care sales guy at my local CVS, as well as my attorney and my doctors, who are all tremendous professionals who make me feel cared for. And I don’t believe it’s random.

The importance of these marginal relationships in our lives occurred to me when I heard the story of how author Tim Wendel hooked up with publisher Shana Yarborough of The Writer’s Lair Books, Inc. for his latest novel, Red Rain, which was released this week. While certainly it makes sense to put a lot of focus on our primary relationships, our ongoing interactions with the professionals we hire or consult with can also make a marked impact on our quality of life.

Just ask Wendel, who wrote a book about the fire balloon, a little known weapon used by the Japanese in World War II. He weaves the story around Yoshi, a Japanese-American woman sent to Japan as a spy to uncover the secrets of this weapon.

“The novel was shopped around, but it didn't click well enough with some folks,” Wendel said. “One house was very intrigued, hung on to the manuscript for several months, and then came back to me asking for a change. Usually, I'm game to hear anybody out. If it improves the manuscript, I'll give it a try. With my first novel, Castro's Curveball, I ended up adding 8,000 words at the editor's urging and it worked well. But this publisher was asking me to change the main character, a spy of Japanese-American descent, from a woman to a man. I couldn't really believe they asked me to do that. I refused.”

Enter Yarborough and her up-and-coming indie press. Wendel had met her on a panel for the Baltimore Book Festival and was struck by how much she cared about her company and the authors it published.

“In addition, several of the promotion ideas she talked about were great -- really thinking outside the box,” Wendel said.

That is largely because he had found a woman whose journey had finally brought her to the career she was meant to have.

“I was so hungry for it,” Yarborough said in a recent interview.

A self-described writer since age six who never thought of writing as a job, she graduated from Spelman College with a B.A. in sociology and social work in 1999. She became a social worker and, because there were several lawyers in her family, she decided she’d probably go to law school. But she never went beyond the LSATs and social work “nearly killed” her.

“I had a low point one day when I thought, ‘if I find out my office building is on fire, I’ll be so happy to not have to go in today,’” Yarborough said with a laugh. “I knew I wanted to create a company. I think during that time when I would talk to my family they’d get off the phone and form a prayer circle.”

But Yarborough had already tapped into her own spiritual well and, combined with her hard work, Writer’s Lair Books was born in 2004. The name comes from her love of tigers.

“Their nature is my nature,” she said. “Their cautionary swiftness, the way they move.”

Once a visitor to www.writerslairbooks.com clicks past the tiger, he is greeted with two quotes, both seen by Yarborough on a restroom wall at church while she was at a pivotal time in her career decision:

Our words have the power to build up or to tear down. We are a family of builders. (unattributed)

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification. -- Ephesians 4:29

Yarborough saw them as a sign. Just one of many, it seems. Ironically, it was selling her own book of poetry in 2004 that really showed her what she could do, particularly the day she set up shop at the Baltimore Book Festival and read to people even though it was pouring rain. Not only did she sell an unlikely 30 books, she met another poet, Kwame Alexander, who later asked her to publish his eighth book.

“It solidified my destiny,” she said.

At age 30, she is now happily entrenched in that destiny, even when she’s working until 3 a.m. She went on to earn her MFA in creative writing and publishing arts from the University of Baltimore in 2007. She assembled a support staff. She gets out and about at festivals and panels. And sometimes she meets authors like Wendel in those travels. They’ve teamed to give a portion of Red Rain sales to Operation Homefront, an organization that helps military families with loved ones in uniform overseas.

“In the end, she enjoyed the novel and I'm fortunate to have her in my corner,” Wendel said.

Fortunate, yes.

Random? Maybe not so much.

Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com.