How did I end up here?

PUBLISHING ANNIVERSARY

Two years ago today I hit 'publish' on my very first novel.  I never knew how much that would change my life.  I feel richer for it.  The friends I have made since are some of the best of my life.  I found my tribe.  I love this world of indie authors, bloggers and book nerds, and though being an author is the most stressful and challenging job I've ever had, it is also the most rewarding and life altering occupation I've had, too.  It keeps me busy that's for sure!  

NEW BEGINNINGS

Finding My Way was my début novel, and the first book in a trilogy, and I'm happy to FINALLY announce the release date for the third and final book in the series.

New Beginnings will release on August 18, 2015. 

You can add it to your TBR today.

ERASER COMPLETE

A little while back I put all of the Eraser series into one paperback.  I did this for me, just because I could, and I also gave a couple of copies away.  Since then, I've received a bit of interest in it and so, after much deliberation, I have decided to take orders for a limited release. 

I anticipate receiving stock some time in September. 'Eraser: The Complete Collection' is available for pre-order by completing this form:

ERASER: The Complete Collection

FICTIONALLY YOURS, MELBOURNE AUTHOR INVASION

When I started this journey I never imagined that I would be getting set to attend my fourth major signing as a published author.  I'm really looking forward to attending Fictionally Yours, Melbourne this October.  And now that I've finally got myself organised I am able to start taking pre-orders!

If you're heading to Melbourne I will have limited stock to sell on the day, so if you want to secure a copy of any of my books please fill out this form, HERE.  As I will be taking orders for 'Eraser: The Complete Collection' I won't be taking orders for the individual Eraser novellas.  I do, however, still have some stock available, so if you're interested in getting your hands on those please message me directly to organise it.

THE FUTURE

It feels like I've been doing this longer than only two years and yet it still feels like yesterday that I began this journey.  I often wonder how I ended up here!  And I often feel the need to pinch myself to make sure it isn't all a dream.  How on earth am I getting set to publish my tenth title??

Where will the future lead?  I have no idea!  All I know is I have many more exciting things planned...

Readers Writers Down Under Event #RWDU15

After travelling 3,000 km (by car) I'm finally home and unpacked ... okay, I'm not really unpacked but I'm getting there!  I've at least put all of my pretty new books on my bookshelf and that is the most important part!

Wow!  What a hectic 11 days!  My family holiday / signing / getaway was so much fun!  Hitting the theme parks with the kids and the fabulous Kubisch family was a blast!  Meeting and hanging out with Ella Frank was surreal and awesome and something I will never forget!  Catching up with friends and meeting new ones was the highlight - the signing was just a bonus!

What a well put together event!  I can only imagine what an incredibly hard task it would be to organise something of the magnitude of RWDU!  The organisers did a great job. I particularly loved the panels by Kirsten Ashley, Abbi Glines, Alex Adsett and Kate Cuthbert.  These ladies are an inspiration.  Their talks were informative and fun, offering insight and advice, and entertaining us all along the way!

I want to give a big thanks to the organisers of RWDU and to all the people that stopped by my table. Those of you that purchased my books, took a photo with me or stole my crappy autograph - I applaud you!  You made this author very happy!

MovieWorld with the kids

At the signing

A dream come true - finally meeting Ella!
(She's even better in person!)

What a line up!  An honour to be amongst those names!

Congratulations to Lauren Mules who won the proof copy of 'Eraser: The Complete Collection' on the day!

An extra big thanks to my beautiful daughter Madi for being my assistant, and for being almost as book crazy as me, and my hubby David for doing all the driving and for keeping the kids occupied, fed and clothed while I did my thing.  Love you both!

Now I've run out of excuses; I must write!  As usual I have a lot of projects in the air, it's putting my focus on one in particular that is the problem!  Seth, I'm coming for you...

Happy Holidays!

This has been one helluva year for me!  For the first time ever, I got to experience what it feels like to be a real author - I attended two amazing book signings!  The first event was Indie Authors Down Under (read about my experience here) and then there was the Sydney Author Event (see my last post here).  It was such an honour to be an 'attending author' at both of these events!  I loved meeting some of my favourite authors and readers, and making new connections, too.

Some of the very best people I have met this year are my street team members.  Megan’s Minions have made this year one to remember! Their kindness, friendship and support mean the world to me and I'm so happy to be able to share this journey with them.  They have given up their time to pimp my work, read and review my books, and make me some bloody awesome teasers, too.  (Check out my Pinterest boards to see what they have done by clicking here.)  One in particular stands out for me, it makes me get teary whenever I read it...

There is nothing I love more than to hear from a reader that has connected with my characters and stories.  So thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to every reader that has picked up one of my books and given it a whirl.  Thank you to the ones that have contacted me, by commenting on my page or sending me messages, to share their thoughts.  A particularly large thanks to those that have taken the time to leave a review.  Words cannot express how life-changing you all are!

Somehow this year I published six titles, entered the Top 100 Erotic Romance Authors on Amazon a couple of times and my books reached Number 1!!! more than once in different genres on there too, and I still managed to work on upcoming projects.  (Yeah, I was a little busy!)

Next year promises to be even bigger!  I have another two signings - You can catch me at Readers and Writers Downunder (now taking pre-orders for this one here) and Fictionally Yours, Melbourne.  My goal is to publish another five titles in 2015 (we'll see how that goes!) each a little different from the last.  Lots of exciting surprises in store!

As the year comes to a close I just want to wish each and everyone of you all the best for the festive season!  I hope your holidays are spent with family and friends and are full of laughter and love. Thank you for your support.

I'll see you all next year!

Sydney Author Event here I come!

I'm packing my things because tomorrow I'm heading to Sydney.  This weekend I'll be attending the Sydney Author Event 2014.

When I started writing it was with the hopes of self-publishing one little book, a bit of fun, to see if I could sell a few.  I never dreamed that two years and nine titles later, I would be attending my second book signing  in the heart of Sydney with some of my favourite authors!  I mean just look at those names!  I'm so excited and honoured to be included in the same room as such talented women!

Not only that, but I love the friendships I've formed since I started this journey.  They have enriched my life beyond measure.  I feel so very blessed to have made online friends with so many beautiful people.  And this weekend I get to hang out with them, some I've met before and others I will be meeting for the first time.  Can’t wait! Full report and pictures to follow in the coming days ...

Today is a good day ...

Putting your words out there for all to see is a scary as all hell.  Book 8 and it doesn't get any easier.  So when ARCs of Amber left my hands yesterday of course I was nervous (read sick to my stomach).  Crimson has received great reviews so far and the next instalment has to meet certain expectations ...

So when I have comments from ARC readers like 'this is really fahking amazing', 'my heart is breaking' and 'I need emotional support', when they tell me that they have real tears because of what I've written, and I get demands for the final instalment to be at least 500 to 1000 pages long, that readers are taking their time reading because they don't want it to end, yeah, I kinda feel pretty damn good!

Then I'm reduced to happy tears for the millionth time by this:

Just the whole idea that someone has gone to this kind of trouble for me?  Yep, I am a total mess right now!  Thank you so much Gillian from A is for Alpha B is for Books for creating this beautiful piece of art!

The point of this post?  THANK YOU!  Thanks to everyone that has supported me along this incredible journey.  The fact that you have taken Mack and Sir into your hearts and you are enjoying their story means the absolute world to me.  And when you take the time to tell me how you feel, message me and call me names, write poems and reviews, and make teasers ... I. Am. Completely. Blown. Away!!!

And I'm kinda thinking, maybe I can write after all!  Of course, I wouldn't have gotten to where I am if it weren't for your encouragement and support.  In particular the support from my fabulous friend Renee - you make me a better writer.  We make an awesome team!

Thank you!

I just wanted to say a big thank you to all that are getting involved in the Eraser series.  I am loving the feedback and the awesome reviews I've been reading.  I particularly want to thank my awesome street team.  These women have enough on their plates without spending the time to help promote my work, yet they do it anyway.  They do it for the love of it and I truly appreciate every post, comment and teaser.

Good work minions! 

Thanks for spreading the word of Sir and Mackenzie!  My dreams came true when I reached #28 in the Amazon Most Popular Erotic Authors list, and managed to stay in the Top 100 for a week!  This was not something I ever imagined I could achieve when I first started writing two years ago.  I never thought I would publish my first book, let alone publish seven in the space of fifteen months!

Not only have my writing goals been (more than) met, I have made friends with some fabulous people!  I won't name names, because they know who they are, but I want them to know how much I love them.  I have had many doubts and hard times and these lovely people have always pulled me through. Without their support and friendship I don't know where I'd be!  I appreciate it all every damn day!

One year on...

One year of being a published author and I'm feeling a bit nostalgic. What a whirlwind the past twelve months have been! June 23, 2013, Finding My Way went live in the US.  I remember looking at my Amazon dashboard and thinking, 'Wouldn't it be nice to sell a hundred books?' I was also shit scared that, of those one hundred sales, no one would like it.

What I wasn't prepared for was selling almost 600 books in that very first month!  I mean, I was no one, I didn't have many Facebook likes, connections, friends in the industry, nothing, I didn't even have a website.  How could my book be sold that many times over?  Were people reading it?  Or just getting it because of its pretty cover?  I mean, look at it - Kari at Cover to Cover Designs did a beautiful job...

I will be forever grateful that Kari responded to my email, because without her I don't know where I'd be. I was completely clueless on how anything worked and I had no idea what cover I wanted.  What Kari gave me captured Emma's essence perfectly.  It fit the story so well and blew me away!  She has since designed SEVEN more book covers for me and I love EVERY SINGLE one of them!

So where was I?  That's right!  My début novel was for sale and people were actually buying it!  For those first sales I have to thank these blogs, the ones that did my FIRST EVER promo posts.  It was them, mentioning my book, that got everything started for me, of that, I have no doubt.

Confessions From Romaholics
Book Addict Mumma
Into The Night Reviews
Natasha is a Book Junkie
My Daily Romance
Jenee's Book Blog
She Reads New Adult

How do I remember these particular bloggers over the many that have helped me since?  Because I kept copies of those blog posts, of course! I was so excited to see MY book on THOSE pages!

And then the most amazing thing happened, the reviews started to trickle in and more blogs got a hold of it.  They were contacting me, responding to my emails, long after I thought I'd be forgotten.  They were reading and reviewing my book and liking it!  Asking for the release date of the next one.  People overseas were asking to buy signed paperbacks and I couldn't believe my luck!

I'm no 'best seller' and I don't need to be, because when a reader messages me and says, 'OMG I loved it!' that's all I need to keep on going.  Who wouldn't appreciate that?  So, I would really like to thank EVERY reader that has ever contacted me, even just one comment on a single Facebook post saying that they enjoyed ANY of my books.  It really is the best feeling in the world, to have something that you have poured your heart and soul into actually matter to someone, even if only for one day.

I love what I do.  I love the characters I write.  I love making up stories. And I wouldn't want to do anything else.  I write for me.  I understand that not everyone is going to like everything that I write and that's okay. It took some time to realise that, after such a happy beginning, but I do get it, because I'm a reader too.  Just because you enjoy one book by a particular author it doesn't necessarily mean you'll love all of their work. 

I've learnt a lot this past year.  I am a lot more confident in my work and I know that I'm getting better with each book, I can feel it.  For that I have to thank Kaye Kelly and Tash Mann who helped me tremendously with Finding My Way and Crossroads.  I need to thank Renee Kubisch for being my everything, for How to Liv and the Eraser series. And to these lovely ladies who have helped at various times as beta readers - Tami Norman, Tiffany Tillman, Marie Obradovic and Carrie Klein.

I don't want to turn this into an 'acknowledgements section' because this is meant to be a blog post and not a book (plus there are too many people to mention) but just know, I do not forget.  Not when it comes to people that matter, people that have supported me throughout this journey so far.  I remember and I thank you!  As with everything in life, there are highs and there are lows to being an author and if it weren't for the friendships made this past year with fellow authors, bloggers and readers, I know I wouldn't be where I am now.

Where am I now?  Well, I'm still surprised that I have published SIX titles in the first year of being a writer!  I'm now working on the fourth book in the Eraser series, with at least another two to follow.  Then I'll be getting back to Seth, poor Seth needs his HEA in New Beginnings. After that, it's either Xander & Tilly or Being Adam, whichever grabs hold of me first.  I also have a book called Blurred Lines hidden away for a rainy day.

Whatever happens, I'm not going anywhere.  I'm in this for the long haul.  I have plenty more to write and this is my motto going forth:

(This lovely graphic can be found with many other words of wisdom on my Pinterest page - I'm a wee bit addicted!)

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING ERASER

Many reviews have claimed it was too short or that it must be a prequel to a larger series or novel.  I want to make it clear that I never intended for Eraser to be more than a novella.  It was just a bit of fun.  A short story about one night of passion.  A fantasy of what could happen if you go home with a kinky stranger.

I’ve had a lot of people asking me ‘what is his name?’ and ‘will there be more?’  I must admit, I have loved the response, the good and the bad.  I also love how annoyed people get because they don’t know his name!  (I laughed out loud when I ended it that way – I don’t mind tormenting people!)

Some people have told me that I shouldn’t claim for it to be a ‘dark’ read because apparently it’s not dark enough.  I have no argument there.  In fact, I agree with that opinion.  However, I didn’t want to mislead someone looking for a completely ‘light & fluffy’ read either – it’s not that.

When writing Eraser, something possessed me to add in the epilogue at the last minute, making it a little bit more than a one-night stand.  Since then, the intrigue of those two characters has played on my mind.  Mackenzie and the mysterious man, it seems, also feel that there is more of their story to be told and so it is my pleasure to announce, due to popular demand … Sir will be back!  When?  I’m not telling.  Will you find out his name?  Maybe.  Is it annoying that I'm being so vague?  I hope so!

The next novella picks up exactly where the original ends.  YOU MUST READ ERASER FIRST!  So if you have a copy of Eraser and haven’t got around to reading it yet, I suggest that you do.  If you haven’t downloaded Eraser you can still get it for only 99 cents at Amazon (links below). 

Please help to spread the word.  Tell your friends!  I cannot wait to share the cover and synopsis for the next book.  I might do that tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU

Indie Authors Down Under Event 2014

This past weekend I flew up the coast to attend Indie Authors Down Under.  It went by in a blur, but I loved every second of it, well, maybe except for my sore feet after the VIP dinner!

It was the first event of its kind to be held in Australia and it was fantastic! Surfers Paradise, on the Gold Coast, was an ideal spot for a fabulous weekend away. Talk about location...

I had a great time meeting people - fans, authors I admire and Facebook friends too, including these gorgeous girls...

It was the highlight of my trip - to finally meet the girls I have become friends with online, the ones that I chat about books with on a daily basis, the girls that support me and keep me sane. Though meeting the likes of these amazing authors wasn't too shabby either...

                         Abbi Glines                        Carmen Jenner

Kylie Scott

I wish I had taken more photos with other authors, there were so many there that I adore! It was such an honour to be included in an event with them all. Especially as, this time last year, I would never have dreamed of having one published book, let alone four!

I'll admit that I was a nervous wreck in the lead up to the event, but once the doors opened and the influx of book nerds, like me, entered the room, the nerves went away. Seeing everyone with smiley, happy faces it was impossible not to enjoy myself!

A very big, extra special, thank you to Alicia Claydon who was my helper on the day. She totally went above and beyond to help me and I really appreciate it.

I also want to thank my other minions who came along to play. And Renee & Kellie, you girls are so very clever!  Thank you for this awesome homemade swag...

Thank you to everyone that came to my table and said g'day. I had so much fun meeting you all. I love that books brought us all together like that!  Bring on the next signing event, I say!

How to Liv Playlist

I'm very excited! It won't be long until How to Liv is published! I am in the final stages of editing and hope to have a cover to reveal to you all very soon. In the meantime, I want to share the playlist with you.

If you have read any of my books you will know that I always include music. Music is really important to me. It's a constant inspiration. You can tell a lot about a person by the type of music they listen to. Why should book characters be any different?

How to Liv is Joel and Olivia's story.  The music I've included was influenced by who they are and what they like. Some songs are included in the book and others just embody the spirit of them and their family and friends. Enjoy!

1.       Lanterns - Birds of Tokyo

2.       Miracle Cure - Something for Kate

3.        1979 - Smashing Pumpkins

4.       Charlie Brown - Coldplay

5.       Zombie - The Cranberries

6.        Penguins & Polarbears - Millencolin

7.       November Rain - Guns N Roses

8.        Take a Picture - Filter

9.        Brother - Matt Corby

10.     Ghosts of the Past - Eskimo Joe

11.     Heartbeats - José González

12.     Friday I’m in Love - The Cure

13.     Lightning Crashes - Live

14.     Semi-Charmed Life - Third Eye Blind

15.     Landslide - Smashing Pumpkins

16.      Mylo Xyloto - Coldplay

17.     Hurts Like Heaven - Coldplay

18.     Motorcycle Drive By - Third Eye Blind

19.      Stay Young - INXS

20.     Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Meat Loaf

21.     Hot Chilli Woman - Noiseworks

22.     Starlight - Muse

23.     My Obsession - Icehouse

24.     If I Could - 1927

25.     Linger - The Cranberries

26.      Draw Your Swords - Angus & Julia Stone

27.     Between the Raindrops - Lifehouse

28.     Wherever You Will Go - Charlene Soraia

29.      I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers

How to Liv
coming soon

The best-worst job ever!

When I first started writing it was because I had this story and these characters in my head and I felt it necessary to get the story out. I wrote for me, for fun and for something to do. When I decided that hey, I had something that others may find worth reading, I thought, why not? Why not publish it? See what happens, maybe I might even make a quick buck or two. It will be fun... maybe I could sell like 50 ebooks... imagine if someone says 'hey I like what you wrote'. And then I would be like 'thanks' collect $2 and that would be all. Job done. Fun had. Move on.  

I was so wrong!  Being a 'self-published author' is nothing like that.

Being an 'author' means...

• Waking up early with some new scene for your book and practically running with your eyes half-closed to get a piece of paper quick-smart before you forget
• Getting angry at the computer for telling you your sentence is fragmented and you should consider revising
• Going out of your way to help bloggers and authors because you love it and are passionate about this indie author world
• No longer believing in good karma
• Submitting and re-submitting your work because Smashwords says you hit return one too many times somewhere in there
• Stressing over the margins in your paperback and getting the page numbers to look right, then after 11 tries to submit to CreateSpace forcing yourself to walk away before you smash the computer
• Spending hours, upon hours, re-reading, re-editing, and re-writing your work only to find out after you publish that it says 'met' where it should say 'meet'
• Realising it's dumb to stress over one word
• Stressing over that one word constantly even though you know it's too late because the paperbacks are already ordered
• Believing in good luck
• Staying up all night just so you can make sure that you don't miss that important post that was promised by a blog in a completely different time zone on the other side of the world
• Getting frustrated and angry when that post doesn't come
• Sitting at the computer at 3am struggling to get a review posted for a fellow author because you promised you would get it done
• Playing on Facebook at odd hours because that's when the 'traffic' is at it's highest and you need to involve your 'fans'
• Realising you don't have 'fans' just people that liked your page to enter a giveaway
• Having your ego boosted by bloggers that are 'excited' about your work and are willing to bend over backwards to help you out... for all of five minutes until the next shiny author comes along and you are forgotten
• Getting bombarded by messages on your phone beside your bed, when you should be sleeping, from a reader who loves your book and has to tell you right away but soon forgets all about you, and your book, when the next shiny author comes along
• Getting signed up for a cover reveal or a review and then being forgotten on the day because, you guessed it, another shiny author has come along
• Being so caught up in what you're doing that you realise it is past dinnertime and you haven't even thought of what you are going to cook until your child comes up beside you and says 'I'm hungry'
• Spending hours offering advice to newcomers to the indie author world when you really are only telling them something you have just learnt yourself
• Getting the kids off to school, saying to yourself 'I'm going to write today' opening the file for that WIP and then spending the next six hours at the computer doing everything but writing and then closing that file to pick up the kids from school again with not one word written
• Releasing a new book that everyone is 'waiting for' only to make 3 sales on the first day
• Watching a debut author you've never heard of get 500 ratings within two days, when you only have 1, and have now made 13 sales
• Getting invited to online blitz parties and then no one coming to yours
• Crying tears of joy for that amazing 5 star review that you cannot believe someone just wrote about your book!
• Crying tears of sorrow when you get a 1 star rating for a book you haven't even written yet!
• Looking at hot men on the internet for 'research'
• Spending hours trolling the internet looking for that perfect picture of the character you made up in your head so that you can create a graphic teaser of your work to entice readers
• Getting excited when an author you admire says they are going to read your work
• Shitting yourself because an author you admire says they are going to read your work
• Getting depressed when an author you admire never speaks to you again
• Sending that teaser graphic you spent hours creating to every blog you know for them to share and get the word out
• Seeing that teaser on only one blog and thinking 'why did I bother?'
• Watching your husband vacuum around you because you are 'working' and thinking 'wow he really understands'
• Feeling incredibly guilty that your husband, who has a full-time paying job, is vacuuming around you while you 'play' around on the computer
• Trying hard to concentrate when your child is excitedly telling you a story about their day when you are really thinking 'I have to email such and such ASAP...'
• Stepping away from the computer for a few hours and then finding that in that time you have had 15 new emails, missed 9 new conversations in that group you love so much, 3 chat messages from people needing info from you and only 16 people have viewed that teaser you posted on your page and worked so hard on
• Seeing a bunch of new likes on your page and thinking 'wow there must be some sort of buzz happening about me or my latest book' and then realising 'no, they just want to win a kindle in that giveaway you forgot about'
• Getting super-excited when a big blogger says they want to read and review your book
• Getting depressed when you never hear from that blogger again
• Finally taking some time out from 'authoring' to read that book everyone is raving about
• Reading that book and finding that you cannot understand what they are raving about when you think yours is better
• Trying desperately not to get jealous that the author everyone is still raving about is getting all the attention, and attractive posts on blog pages, and is rating so well on Amazon, and you are still not even getting a response from that blogger who said they were going to read your book and haven't, and you are currently sitting at about 100,000 in the ranks on Amazon
• Rarely having time to read
• Rarely having time to watch TV
• Not being able to concentrate on reading or watching TV in those rare times, as you are still too busy thinking about 'work'
• Not getting paid for that 'work'
• Raving like a lunatic on a blog about all of the shit you cannot stop thinking about
• Relief knowing that out of the 39 people that follow that blog probably no one will read this post anyway
• Depression that you have had this blog for how long now?  And you still only have 39 people following
• Falling in love with the characters and the stories in your head
• Feeling like they are real and a massive part of your life, that they are people you know
• Getting surprised when the story heads in a direction you didn't see coming
• Feeling crazy because you have pretend friends that you made up and yet you are somehow shocked at what they do... how does that even make sense?  Crazy!
• Being sad when readers interpret your book in a way you didn't think they would and see those characters you love so much in the wrong light and not the way you intended
• Loving how much someone loves your character!
• Arguing with bloggers and readers about who loves your characters more and who can keep them - again with the crazy
• Thinking 'I'm a genius' when you come up with that perfect line for your book
• Knowing that no one will ever agree that you are a genius
• Getting delighted that someone wants to pay for a signed copy of your book
• Receiving payment for a book because you have written one and they want your scribble inside it
• Realising that the $3 dollar profit you made on your signed paperback has now turned into a $12 loss because Australia Post decided to put up their price for overseas shipping in the time it took for your books to arrive from the other side of the world
• Getting excited to bank your first royalty check
• Realising that the royalty check doesn't even begin to cover all of your costs
• Realising you have spent the past six months working almost 24/7 for no pay
• Holding that paperback in your hand and realising that is all the payment you need
• Holding the latest bill in your hand and realising it's not
• Smiling like a fool in the line at the checkout when you think of something funny your character just did
• Smiling even bigger when you realise that the person serving you has no idea just how fabulous that character is
• Feeling like a fool because that character is not real and you are crazy and now the person you are grinning at thinks so too
• Getting stopped in the street by someone who 'cannot wait' for your next book
• Getting an email from a reader who is dying to know how much longer they have to wait for your next book
• Getting excited to actually have fans
• Getting disappointed when the next shiny author comes along and they love their books more
• Getting stopped by an 8-year-old in the school grounds who says 'my mum is reading your book'
• Getting worried for the reaction of that mum
• Wondering if your readers think you are writing from experience or imagination
• Worrying that they believe what they have read to be real
• Feeling like a desperate stalker when constantly asking for readers to leave a review
• Being on a high when they do
• Feeling like you actually have a career, even if it doesn't pay
• Being hopeful that one day it might actually pay enough to at least reimburse you for your expenses
• Realising it is now after midnight and you are still yabbering on about all this crap that no one is interested in and won't read
• Worrying that they will and then they will all know that you really are crazy
• Putting yourself on the line everyday
• Hiding behind a computer
• Thinking people understand you
• Knowing that they don't
• Making friends online and having the best LOL moments with people you have never met because you have a booky connection
• Knowing that if you did meet them you probably wouldn't have anything to say
• Seeking approval from friends and family and hoping to god they don't think your work is based on real-life
• Getting sad when you know they aren't really interested in reading your work anyway
• Worrying about what people will think of you when they read your work
• Hoping people will think better of you for reading your work
• Knowing they probably won't look at you the same way
• Having tremendous support from other authors and bloggers, at least until another shiny author comes along
• Trying to write the book people want
• Knowing you have to write the book you want
• Writing what you want, be damned the consequences
• Worrying about the consequences
• Knowing that you have the best-worst job ever and you cannot see yourself quitting any time soon
• Wanting to quit nearly everyday

*Disclaimer - none of this is about me of course.  And if you have made it through this extremely long post, please comment so that I know that you know that I'm crazy.