I’ve been putting off writing this post, mostly because I’ll probably cry at some point. Want‘s book birthday is finally here, and there are so many people I’m grateful to for their encouragement, expertise, critiques and enthusiasm.

Most are found on the “Acknowledgments” page of the book, but there are countless others who have “liked” and “followed” and hosted, written reviews, sent kind messages, commented and clicked. It’s truly humbling and honestly, it still feels like this is happening to someone else.

There are three “families” I need to specifically mention.

  • The first is the indie author/publisher family of which I’ve become a part. Many of them are fellow Inkspell authors, but not all. A number are friends of friends who’ve welcomed me into their community, and for that I am so very grateful. You are amazing writers with hearts of gold (and wicked tongues–I love that!).
  • Book bloggers are the second group to whom I’m indebted. Many I knew through my work with Novel Novice, but others took a chance on an unknown writer. Your love of books and sharing them with like-minded readers is the most beautiful calling.
  • The final family I need to mention is my critique group. When I was writing Want, there were only three besides me: Carrie Cox, Lee Ann Ward and Joyce Scarbrough, who also did the majority of the heavy-duty editing. She helped me hammer out my thoughts, untangle plot knots and guided me to a perfect ending. (She’s also a dominatrix of commas.)

Although he wasn’t an established member of our group yet, there’s one other person I have mention because he’s been so instrumental in Want‘s success–my ninja publicist and fellow author Israel Parker. (Sorry, cat’s out of the bag.) I’m grateful for the tips and tricks he’s shared, as well as the supportive/hilarious/vulgar texts at random hours. Unfortunately, Want‘s pub day also coincides with Israel’s move to another state, where he’ll spend three years serving in the Coast Guard.

It’s made this day bittersweet.

BUT, you’re only a debut author once, so I plan to enjoy it and thanks to all of you, I will. 🙂