Early days…

Last week was a huge deal for me. At the request of an editor, I submitted a partial to the publishing house I have dreamed of writing for since I was in my teens. And then on Sunday, I did the unbelievable and signed my very first publishing contract on another book.

Life is surreal to say the least. My dream looks like it’s finally coming true, and yet, I’m still a bag of nerves and filled with uncertainty.

Luckily, what I have discovered in only a couple of weeks is that the writing community rock! The support from publishers, editors and authors (both aspiring and published) is incredible. They have helped me press send when my crappy perfectionism and multitude of other author anxieties had me terrified of doing so.

Social media has really come into its own (there was a time I would have said “Twitter – what is the point? I just don’t get it!”). It has given me the opportunity to immerse myself in the industry, connecting with people I wouldn’t otherwise have been able to.

I know I have a long way to travel from here, I’m just starting out after all, but that realisation is less daunting knowing that the support is out there 24/7. I have also found great comfort in reading the experiences of other authors that have made it across the line (to the internet, thank you for making this possible, you are awesome!). A special mention here to Therese Beharrie and Clare Connelly who immediately spring to mind. They have produced such wonderful and useful blogposts that I could get lost in their sites for days!

It also feels like a good time to say a huge thank you to the following fabulous authors whose books of wisdom have helped me get to this point. Hopefully, if you’re reading this and wanting to improve your writing craft these may help you too:

Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes

Busy Writer’s Guides Set 1 & 2 by Marcy Kennedy

Rock Your Plot by Cathy Yardley

GMC: Goal, Motivation, and Conflict by Debra Dixon

Little Book of Writing Romance by Liz Fielding

The Craft of Writing Romance by Jean Saunders

To Writers with Love by Mary Wibberly

(I definitely owe a blogpost to these books and why they are fab, it’s now on my To-Do!)

So yes, I may be a bag of nerves and not the most confident of newbie authors, but I’m buoyed up by the wonderful people I have met in cyberspace and looking forward to the journey ahead.

Signing off from somewhere on Cloud-9,

Rxx