Friday, August 20, 2010

Almost there...

On Monday morning I'll wake up--that's assuming I sleep at all Sunday night!--and check my Kindle. If nothing goes wrong (or, as we used to say in Alabama, if the Good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise), The Sergeant's Lady will be waiting there for me. My very own book, out there for all the world to read.

It's been a long journey, one that started as a marathon and ended as a sprint. I started writing seriously in 2001, nine years ago. In my naive optimism--or maybe newbie arrogance would be a more accurate term--I never dreamed that it would take me nearly a decade to sell. And there were times in the past year or two where I wondered if I was deluding myself by thinking that I had any kind of writing gift worth cultivating. I even thought about quitting...for maybe a few hours. That's all it took to realize that even if no one wanted to read my stories, I still wanted to tell them.

The sprint started once Carina offered to buy the book. That was in April. Less than five months ago. In that brief time I've been through three or four rounds of edits, deciphered a contract, provided input on cover art and copy, planned a blog tour, built a web presence for myself (at least the beginnings of one--my website itself, the one talked about on Smart Bitches and Dear Author this week, is very much a work in progress and will hopefully be replaced by the real thing in the next couple weeks), and attended a major conference as an author with a First Sale ribbon on my badge and a book to publicize. All while moving to a new house and living my life as a married mother with a full time day job. It's been dizzying at times. Wonderful, though. Nothing like having your dream come true after almost giving up all hope that it's possible!

And the journey continues. Carina has accepted my second Regency historical romance, A Marriage of Inconvenience, exact date TBD but probably March or April 2011. Watch this space for further details...

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