And welcome to a most momentous week.
Because, on Monday, I became an actual published author!
Friends & Family
Yes, on May the Fourth (be with you) my debut novel, The Heart That Died, became available for purchase on Amazon as both an E-book (kindle Unlimited et al) and as a paperback.
And I’ve actually managed to sell some, too!
Now, I’m under no illusions. I’m no J K, not in my politics and not in my potential success. I would imagine that the vast (vast, vast, vast) amount of my sales so far have been to family members and friends.
But that’s not the point.
Do-It-Yourself
You see, when I retired from busy-work thanks to my diagnosis of MS and all that meant I found, much to my amazement, that I’m not all that good at doing nothing.
Apparently, my diseased brain still cries out for distractions, purpose, and stimuli and writing, something I have long aspired to, seemed like a decent usage of my new-found and amazingly empty free time.
Now, I’m under no illusions. I’m no J K, not in my politics and not in my potential success. I would imagine that the vast (vast, vast, vast) amount of my sales so far have been to family members and friends.
But that’s not the point.
Do-It-Yourself
You see, when I retired from busy-work thanks to my diagnosis of MS and all that meant I found, much to my amazement, that I’m not all that good at doing nothing.
Apparently, my diseased brain still cries out for distractions, purpose, and stimuli and writing, something I have long aspired to, seemed like a decent usage of my new-found and amazingly empty free time.
So I wrote the first draft of a novel, saved it on my laptop, and promptly did nothing with it.
Many years, many, many re-writes and many unsuccessful attempts to query traditional publishers of one stripe or another later I was finally nudged to try self-publishing, something I was probably guilty of being just a tad snobbish about.
Groundloading?
It was a fair amount of work, what with designing cover art, spelling and grammar checks and re-checks, formatting, uploading, downloading (looping the loop and defying the groundloading), but it was strangely freeing not to have to consider the individual wants and needs of publishers, just for the query (plus first 50 pages or first five chapters or first three chapters or whole manuscript all including a synopsis and elevator pitch) to not even receive a bog-standard ‘thanks, but it’s not for us’ type reply.
Now, I feel that I’ve broken free from the never-ending treadmill, and alongside that also ripped myself free from the avalanche of self-doubt, and the nagging imposter syndrome.
Enough
I have published. My story and my characters are in the public domain and will be judged accordingly. It’s a strangely liberating feeling, almost like the last few years have been the climb to the top of the roller-coaster and what follows now is the uncontrollable descent at break-neck speed.
Hopefully, there will be some reviews coming, and hopefully they will (on the whole) be of a positive nature. Not everyone will be a fan, of course not, but hopefully, someone, somewhere will like the little world I’ve built, and you know what? That will be enough.
Until next time!
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Hey, there! If you enjoyed reading any of the above, why not take a look at some of my published work? Below you’ll find links to a number of short stories I’m lucky enough to have included in anthologies. I’d love to know what you think. My debut novel, The Heart That Died is also due to be published on the 4th of May so I’m adding the link to that, too.
Oh, and if you like what you look-see, a nice, positive review would also be most welcome.
The Heart That Died
New Tales Of Old
Death Ship
Pestilence: Drabbles 1
Reaperman: Drabbles 3
The Musketeers Vs Cthulhu
Eldritch Investigations
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