Journey To Authorship

Hey there! I know I’ve been off the radar on my blog, but I’m just busy. I keep saying I should wait until I no longer am, but in all honesty, there’s not really an end in sight for that. Between my (almost) two year old putting me to work, general wifely (adulting) duties, working on the book (the book may be finished but the work isn’t) and a list of client projects stretching into October as of now, please believe me when I say, I can’t even remember if I’m wearing underwear today.

So what’s been going on?

Months ago I mentioned in the briefest form that I was writing a book. Then, a few months ago let you guys know what I was working on and the book cover has been making the rounds on my social media pages. Since then,  The Dangerous Business of Pleasure debuted on August 9, 2018, and can be found on Amazon (All marketplaces + Kindle). It goes without saying that I am humbly seeking your support, right? If not, then consider it sought.

I get asked questions about the book a lot (Find a few questions on Goodreads). More than a few people have asked me what inspired the book, so here we go.

Genesis

I started the book in September of 2017. It was the beginning of another story when I realized, it was quite lengthy and more of an introduction, despite being over two thousand words. So when I showed it to my sister in law and she assumed it was a book, I went along with the idea. I worked on the story deliberately, but the overall book passively. There were weeks when I would write a little every day and others when weeks or more would go by and I didn’t touch it.

By the time I heard about the Kingston Book Festival and decided to go, the story was only a fraction of the finished product and still very nameless. I wrote a book proposal and took it to the festival, but didn’t submit it to any of the publishers. It didn’t feel right, and unfortunately, none of them seemed to be a fit for the product. That same day, a friend of mine had a talk with me about my intentions (or a lack thereof) for the book. He pretty much hyped me up, told me to research self-publishing and that he would invest his time to design my cover. We didn’t waste any time. One night when Boobles was on-call (overnight) at the hospital he came by and we worked all night (literally) on it. Boy, I never knew it was so much stress to carry out a vision. It was one big yawn and coffee fest, to say the least. My friend and his girlfriend didn’t make it back home till six or seven am the next day, despite them living a minute’s drive from me.

Now What?

After that, the ads and mockups were easier to design (for him, anyway) and I told everyone I was writing a book. I continued to write, and somewhere along the line, the idea of writing a prequel as a marketing tool embedded itself in my brain. So, I wrote one and offered it to subscribers of my mailing list. It did well, with hundreds of signups and access to the file. When I finished the book, I thought it would be a shame for readers not to have the benefit of the depth of character that the prequel provided and included it in the novel as the prologue.

You would think the hard part was writing the book, but it’s not. Holy cow, it’s not! Have you ever tried to edit fifty thousand (50,000) words of something you wrote? It’s maddening. If you want my advice, nuh dweet! Save yourself!

Despite a few other hiccups along the way, the euphoria of seeing the finished product and watching others enjoy your work is exhilarating. However, the work is just beginning as the time has come for marketing my baby. Plus, I’ve already started some work on my next project. (If you purchased the Kindle version and finished it, you’ve seen it.

Here’s to Twenty Nine!

So here’s to celebrating my 29th birthday with my first book, a self-published fiction novel. It’s been an illuminating experience and the ride is not over yet.

Talk to you guys soon and don’t forget to get your book HERE. When you’ve read, drop your reviews on Facebook, Amazon and Goodreads! 😊