My first copy of Intimate Encounters

Wow!  I physically held my book yesterday and the gamut of emotions that went through me was unexpected.  Excitement, glee, accomplishment, and fear.  Why fear?  I read a fellow blogger’s post the other day and I’m comforted in knowing I’m not alone in experiencing this complex emotion as a writer.  After all, I am putting myself out there for rejection, criticism and judgement.  I don’t usually care what people think, but deeply ingrained inside the human mind emotions exist no matter how we try to suppress or change them.  So I’m learning to embrace this thing called fear and get beyond it to make me a better writer.

Fear aside, excitement is the emotion that shined through.  Excited about the possibilities for this book and for my career as a writer.  Can I make it as a fiction writer?  In many ways that will depend on feedback from Intimate Encounters.  Or not, I’ll probably just pick up my laptop in a few weeks a begin another story. A sense of accomplishment flowed through me as I held my book.  At that point all the hard work writing and editing over the years seemed to have paid off.  Not in a monetary manner since I would have to sell millions to really make money but more self-satisfaction from seeing the end product.  I decided to celebrate the occasion with a few friends, a couple of beers, a bottle of wine and a huge hangover.  Life is good!