Milestones

Being a writer is an odd thing sometimes. At this point in my fledgling writing career, each milestone I come to is worthy of a call to my closest friends and family members to tell them about the latest "neat" thing that's happened. I'm not sure at what point that novelty will wear off. Maybe never, so I'm hoping my family and friends will continue to clap and cheer and jump up and down with me when I need them to. :)

My biggest news right now is that I have 2 books releasing back to back--one in September (Love Finds You in Charm, Ohio) and one in October (the first in my 3 book Walk in the Park series, Love is a Battlefield)! I am beginning to get excited about the releases. I think for so long, it didn't seem real, while I was caught up in writing, deadlines, and edits. But now things are starting to pick up--I'm scheduling book signings, interviews and even have an author page on Amazon.

The other day, something happened to make it completely real. I received my first box of books. My books! I am not (too) embarrassed to say that when I pulled the first copy from the box, I literally sank to the floor and cried. I'm not an overly emotional kind of girl. But I expect that when I hold the next one in my hand, I will have a similar reaction. And possibly when I see them on the shelves at stores come September and October. I'll be the weepy girl doing the Snoopy Dance on the book aisle at your local Wal-Mart/Barnes and Noble/etc. Just fair warning. :)

One of my biggest lessons throughout the process has been finding out that writing is truly a labor of love. It's wonderful when the words are coming easily, the plot is coming together and I'm meeting my word per day goal. But then there are those days when the words don't come at all, and the deadline seems like it is creeping closer. The nights when I'm up writing and it is 2 am and I know I have to be at the office the next day (I have a full-time job, after all!). Those are the times when the love really kicks in. Otherwise it would be too tempting to walk away and claim it to be too hard.

I'm working now on Love is Monumental the second book in the Walk in the Park series. It will release next May. I'm leaving Thursday morning for a research trip to Washington DC, and plan on posting lots of blogs/pictures while I'm there, so stay tuned!

Song of the day is This Time of Year by Better than Ezra--favorite song, favorite band. Saw them in concert this past Friday night with 3 friends from college. I'm pretty sure that for a few songs we were 22 again. :)