Happiness Comes in a Spine

  July 14th I will always remember as the day I became published.  I received the "proof" copy of my book in the mail.  It was like giving birth to my creation and gazing upon it for the first time, only minus the hospital setting...and the pain...  I gave Amazon the OK to proceed with publishing the paperback and the ebook.  Soon I saw my it available on Amazon.com.  It was a sight to behold- I took a picture of my computer screen like the dork that I am.  I started envisioning readers scrolling through books and coming across mine, exactly the way I search for my next big read.  It was exhilarating.  My lifetime goal came true because I had the will never to give up. 
  Now my goal is to get the word out about it.  This is proving to be much more difficult than writing the book.  Mostly, family, friends, and a few people who I only know online have read it.  One person who I've never spoken to (online or otherwise) has read it.  I was thrilled to hear she liked it.  It's somewhat an odd feeling to want people, strangers, to read something I wrote.  I've never been one to put myself out there.  In fact, I was extremely quiet in school.  God forbid if I did speak back then- everyone stopped and stared at me, causing my face to flame red and my breath to catch in my throat.  Writing and publishing a book takes a fair amount of bravery.  Something I'm still grasping.
  I'm also working on my next book.  Possibly two at once.  That should prove to be interesting.  I love it, though.  I can finally call myself an author.  I'm finally doing something that feels more than right.  My happiness came to me in a spine.   

Heart All,
Kristi