Ah, yes, the swishing sound of my pen across paper, indelibly etching my name on a brand new book contract! Yesterday I signed, sealed and brought to the post office a contract for what will be my fourth historical, a romantic tale with strong mystery elements about an adventurer and a gentlewoman grappling with a missing fortune, mistaken identity, murder, a terrifyingly cute spider and the dire consequences of gooseberry pie.
Obviously NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART!
Oh, I'm delighted, elated, very excited. I don't have a release date yet, but that's OK, for the time being I can just be happy with the sale and start sweating all the implications later -- just as a certain character in the story has to sweat the implications of that afore mentioned gooseberry pie. I remember after the sale of my three book Mostly series, I was deliriously happy for about a year. Literally went around smiling for no particular reason -- except that I'd SOLD. Then, about three months before the first book came out I broke out into a cold sweat and noticed a sure hole being eaten away in my stomach. There were going to be REVIEWS. People I KNEW were going to be reading MY book and -- sheesh -- judging me on it! This probably doesn't occur to most readers, but writing is a very personal thing. You're value system is reflected in what you write. Your notions of romance, friendship, loyalty, humor, angst...and -- great Scott!!! -- your attitudes about S-E-X!! Oh dear! What WOULD people think?
And then the reviews did start rolling in -- and hey, they were good! Some were really great. Friends and family read the book -- and no one shunned me! It was all good. OK, it wasn't ALL good. There's always that cranky PMSing reviewer who doesn't like this or that about your writing and feels obligated to point it out to the world. You get over it. You grow crocodile scales over your delicate skin (actually, I don't think crocodiles have scales but you get the point). And it gets easier and easier with each book until you begin to feel like an old pro. OK, maybe I'm not quite there yet, but I know a lot more than when I started, that's for sure.
So mark it on your calendars. Oh, right -- I don't have release date yet. Well, sometime in '08 I believe. I know, I know, such a long time to wait. Well, in the meantime you could always check out all the wonderful authors who are members of my local RWA chapter, the Florida Romance Writers!
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