One Year Novel-versary
One year ago today, I hit the publish button on my novel, Ghost Thief, sending it onto Amazon for the world to read. It was a wild ride getting my first book published. From completing the first draft, the nervousness of giving it to my beta readers, seeing the manuscript printed out for the first time, seeing the first draft copy, to finally getting a box of the books that were to go on sale.
I’ll admit that the book didn’t sell that many copies. Part of that was my fault. One of the big advantages of self publishing is that I don’t have an editor insisting on big changes to my story. The downside is that I don’t have a publishing company advertising my novel. This meant that I had to figure out how to get the word out about my novel – a task that I stumbled at doing.
Of course, one of the reasons that I dropped the ball on advertising my first book was that I began writing my second book. I began with what I assumed would be two short stories to bridge the gap between books one and two. As I wrote the second story, however, I realized I was writing the opening chapters to Book 2.
So I began writing Book 2 in earnest. In the past 10 months, I’ve written over 78,000 words for Book 2, making it much longer than my first book. At that pace, it’s about one printed novel page written per day. I estimate that Book 2 will be about 90,000 words when it’s done. Then again, these stories have a history of laughing at my estimates. They finish when they want to finish, not when I think they’ll be done.
So when will Book 2 be published, you might ask. Well, if everything goes as planned, I could be looking at a May/June publication date. Of course, my previous statement about the story taking its time applies here as well. I could have a burst of writing and editing that cuts the time down, or I could wind up taking more time to get the story just right for publication.
No matter what happens with my second (and third and fourth books – yes, I have ideas for those already), Ghost Thief will always hold a special place in my heart as my first published novel.
Happy anniversary, Ghost Thief!
To celebrate, I recommend downloading the first three chapters for free and, if they intrigue you, buying the book in paperback or Kindle.
Almost seventeen years ago, I met this wonderful woman online. I knew right from the start that there was something special about her. A month after our first online meeting, we meet in person for the first time. To say that our date went well would be an understatement. When it came time to leave, we found it difficult to part from each other. I never wanted to leave her side. Fifteen years ago today, I married this wonderful woman.
Fourteen years ago today, I walked down the aisle and became the luckiest man in the world because B & I were married. I thought our lives couldn’t get any better, but then along came NHL and then JSL. Over the years, we’ve had high times and lows. Excitement both of the good and bad kind. Scares and joyful moments. Through it all, B is the rock I’ve clung to. Every time I think I can’t take one more thing that life has thrown my way, B is there to provide support. I wouldn’t be the man I am today without her. I couldn’t do half of the stuff I do without knowing that she’s there for me. Whenever I think that I can’t love B any more, I find that I was wrong – I can and do love her more each and every day.
People don’t usually think of thirteen as a lucky number, but today it is. Thirteen years ago today, I became the luckiest man in the world because B said "I do." The actual day is a blur. I know that I walked up an aisle. B circled me a few times during the ceremony while our mothers lifted her train – practically causing her to moon everyone. I believe food was served, but I know we didn’t get to eat any. Many people congratulated us, but I don’t remember any actual conversations. Many photos were taken and much dancing was done. In the end, we were exhausted. Happy, but exhausted. The next day, we were off to Disney World for our honeymoon.
Twelve years ago today, I became an extremely lucky man. There are many ways one can become lucky. You can win the lottery, land your dream job, or meet a favorite celebrity. The way I became lucky was better than all of those combined (though we wouldn’t say no to a winning lottery ticket considering how fast the bills seem to be coming lately). I became the world’s luckiest man because the world’s most amazing woman married me.