Yawn and Stretch and...

This past Saturday, after the ice had thawed, I was wandering around my kitchen wiping down seemingly random spots on the counter. My husband walked in and asked, “What are your plans today?”

I could really process that question. I just sort of stared at him. “I don’t know?”

I have honestly been working on this book for way too long. And the last few weeks have been so intense, that after sending it to my beta readers, I spent several days in a daze. Between book hangover and crazy weather, my brain capacity for the last week was limited to getting my kids to their virtual classes on time. It took me a few days to muster up the energy and attention to start planning the next steps.

It’s hard to explain the feeling of sending a book out to beta readers for the first time. I’ve read it so many times, I can’t tell the difference anymore from what is on the page and what is in my head. My husband has read it, and proclaimed the last three chapters especially some of the best writing I’ve ever done. But It’s been such a hard slog to write and then revise this past year, that I have found my confidence as a writer shrinking considerably. I think anxiety brought on by everything that has gone on, has become so pervasive that I can’t remember how to approach anything with confidence anymore.

So, when I finished revising, and ran one more grammar check on the book, I just sort of sat there.

Eric: “Is it done?”

Me: “Maybe one more spell check.”

Eric: “Nope. Send it to the betas.”

Me: “But it’s…”

Eric: “Send it. Send it right now.”

So, a week ago Saturday, I sent it to my beta team, a wonderful group of series readers. After a few days of brain fog and therapeutic knitting, the feedback started rolling in.

Of course, there are things that need improvement, some that might get cut, and plenty of typos that need fixing, but so far the feedback as has been good. No one seems too angry about the ending. I confess I was a little afraid of that. It seems to be resonating, and I am as always amazed at how readers have taken to these characters. I love them so much and it makes me feel so good when others love them too.

That feedback has given me a much needed boost to move on to the next steps. A big step is attaching some dates to what’s coming up. So, here they are. I haven’t planned any launch events yet, and the ones that I have will be virtual until more people are vaccinated. I’ll let you all know of those when I’ve got them scheduled.