Cedar Valley News- January 19, 2026
The Day Before the Day
By: Teresa Nikas, Editor
From the fictional town of Cedar Valley, where characters from Quiet Echo continue to respond to real-world events.
Yesterday, while the nation prepared for today’s headlines, Pasadena, California did something quieter. They celebrated Neighbor Day.
It started four years ago as a simple idea from a local band and a brewery: get neighbors together, play some music, raise a toast to the people next door. This year it meant something more. A year ago this month, the Eaton Fire tore through Pasadena and Altadena, killing 31 people and destroying thousands of homes. Entire streets vanished overnight.
And suddenly, neighbors mattered in ways nobody had thought about before.
“Never was the importance of knowing your neighbors highlighted more,” said Russell Mark, one of the event’s founders. “Knowing who may have a disability, sensitive to breathing issues, lacking a car, working nights with pets at home alone—all these things suddenly became vital in a potential life or death scenario.”
When the fire came, some people survived because neighbors knew to check on them. Others didn’t make it because nobody knew they were there.
Yesterday at Wild Parrot Brewing Company, several bands performed—including musicians who had lost their homes in the fire. They showed up anyway. They played anyway. Because, as the organizers put it, “it was important to feel some normalcy.”
That’s not denial. That’s resilience.
Somewhere in Pasadena yesterday morning, someone from a company called Environmental 911 was anonymously buying coffee for strangers at local shops. No fanfare, no cameras. Just gratitude—for a community that had let them into homes and workplaces to help with fire recovery. The intention, the organizers noted, “was anonymity.”
That’s what real service looks like. No recognition required.
Here in Cedar Valley, we don’t have wildfires. But we have blizzards, and ice storms, and power outages that leave elderly neighbors sitting alone in the dark. We have people on our streets whose names we don’t know. We have folks who would struggle to evacuate if they had to, and nobody on the block who’d think to check.
The fire taught Pasadena that neighbors aren’t just the people who wave from their driveways. They’re the ones who know that Mrs. Patterson has oxygen tanks. That the Nguyens work nights and their kids are home alone until seven. That the man in 4B hasn’t picked up his mail in three days.
That kind of knowing doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by showing up. By introducing yourself. By asking questions and actually listening to the answers. It takes time—Aisha Khalid reminded us yesterday that it takes thirty-four hours to turn an acquaintance into a friend.
Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The speeches will be about justice and service and building the Beloved Community. All of that matters. But maybe the simplest thing any of us can do today is what Pasadena did yesterday: find out who lives next door.
Not because it’s a holiday. Because it might save someone’s life.
Knock on a door. Learn a name. Ask how they’re doing. That’s not a grand gesture. That’s just being a neighbor.
And sometimes, that’s enough.
This editorial is part of the fictional Cedar Valley News series. While the people and town are fictional, the national events they reflect on are real.
Want to know the full story behind Cedar Valley? Teresa, Caleb, Dan, and the community you’ve come to know in these editorials first came together in Quiet Echo: When Loud Voices Divide, Quiet Ones Bring Together. Discover how a small town found its way from fear to fellowship—one quiet act of courage at a time. Available on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3ME4nSs
Author Campaign Method (ACM) for Authorpreneurs
This is Publication Consultants’ motivation for constantly striving to assist authors sell and market their books. Author Campaign Method (ACM) of sales and marketing is Publication Consultants’ plan to accomplish this so that our authors’ books have a reasonable opportunity for success. We know the difference between motion and direction. ACM is direction! ACM is the process for authorpreneurs who are serious about bringing their books to market. ACM is a boon for them.
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Cortex is for serious authors and will probably not be of interest to hobbyists. We recorded our Cortex training and information meeting. If you’re a serious author, and did not attend the meeting, and would like to review the training information, kindly let us know. Authors are required to have a Facebook author page to use Cortex.
Correction:
We take the quote by Marcella Smith, Small Press Business Manager, Barnes & Noble seriously: “The author is essential to the success of the book, giving energy behind the book to make it something that a customer will come in and ask for. That is what makes the difference in a book that sells, that develops legs, and has a life of its own. Otherwise the book goes on the shelf and stays there for three months. Then it gets returned.”
This is Publication Consultants’ motivation for constantly striving to assist authors sell and market their books. ACM is Publication Consultants’ plan to accomplish this so that our authors’ books have a reasonable opportunity for success. We know the difference between motion and direction. ACM is direction! ACM is the process for authors who are serious about bringing their books to market. ACM is a boon for serious authors, but a burden for hobbyist. We don’t recommend ACM for hobbyists.
We’re the only publisher we know of that provides authors with book signing opportunities. Book signing are appropriate for hobbyist and essential for serious authors. To schedule a book signing kindly go to our website, <
An Author Page on Amazon Author Central is a serious author ACM requirement and desirable for the hobbyist. Author Central is a free resource designed to help authors become more active participants in the promotion of their books. In Author Central you can manage an Author Page, update information about your books, and view Customer Reviews and sales information for your bibliography. If you don’t already have an Author Page on 
We hear authors complain about all the personal stuff on Facebook. Most of these complaints are because the author doesn’t understand the difference difference between a Facebook profile and a Facebook page. Simply put, a profile is for personal things for friends and family; a page is for business. If your book is just a hobby, then it’s fine to have only a Facebook profile and make your posts for friends and family; however, if you’re serious about your writing, and it’s a business with you, or you want it to be business, then you need a Facebook page as an author. It’s simple to tell if it’s a page or a profile. A profile shows how many friends and a page shows how many likes. Here’s a link <> to a straight forward description on how to set up your author Facebook page.
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Mosquito Books has a new location in the Anchorage international airport and is available for signings with 21 days notice. Jim Misko had a signing there yesterday. His signing report included these words, “Had the best day ever at the airport . . ..”
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