Today is an exciting day!
Today is the one-year anniversary of the date my first novel, Someone to Kiss, was published.
To say that publishing a novel was a dream come true is an understatement. Yes, it was a dream come true, but it was so much more than that.
I’ve been writing stories since I was a kid. I remember the first time I decided to write a novel — I was in grade three and it was written in a notebook that had hearts all over it. I can’t remember what it was going to be about, but I do remember I wrote about two pages and then I moved on to something else. Quitting stuff was my style back then.
Despite the fact that it took me forty-odd more years to start and finish my next novel, I never stopped writing in between. I have folders and notebooks and journals of stories and poems and musings and weird shit I now don’t understand.
I wrote a blog for several years in my thirties and many other blogs after that which didn’t last nearly as long.
One of those blogs spurred the idea for Someone to Kiss, and the rest, I guess, is history.
From the day I found out my publisher wanted to publish my book until now, has been a whirlwind of experiences that I never thought I would have. I am so grateful to her for taking a chance on me, and so grateful for everyone who has joined me on the journey. Especially those who still follow me on my personal social media. There have been A LOT of book posts.
From friends to family to colleagues to people I’ve met online, I continue to be amazed and incredibly touched by how many people have, not only bought my book, but have also been hugely supportive, both digitally when posting reviews and sharing book news, and also in person with kind and encouraging words.
I never imagined in a million years that I would a) write a book, b) publish that book, and c) be lucky enough to have wonderful people actually READ that book and say nice things about it.
So, this birthday newsletter is dedicated to all of you. All of the people who are along for the ride. Whether you’ve been here since the beginning, or have just recently jumped on board: I appreciate you, I am grateful for you and I am so glad you’re here.
(If you can’t play the video below, click on the attachment that came with the email. Or check out the cake post Instagram!)