So yesterday I put a copy of my novel, Head Above Water, into an envelope, along with my bio, contact info, etc..., into an envelope and sent it off to the main guy at the Arkansas Literary Festival. If they like it, and I need you to cross your fingers that they do, they will select me to be a featured author at the festival in April of next year.

So, keep me and my book in your thoughts in the hopes that I make it onto the panel and be that featured author that I know I am. :-)

More later....

Maybe it's the plight of all writers, specifically the "independent" ones like myself, who worry about what this writing thing is going to lead to, if anything.

Writing is one of only a handful of things that I KNOW that I'm good at it but I worry that, when it's all said and done, will I just be like many before and after me who will be a great writer that no one has ever heard of. Maybe I'm a bit narcisstic in calling myself a "great" writer but, if I didn't truly believe that I was good at what I did then I wouldn't be doing it.

I worry that people will look at my books as being "run of the mill" or just average when I want them to be so much more than that. Any time I write something I want to give readers something different than what they've read before.  I want them to feel the characters and the soul that I've put in it because any time I write something I put myself into it because what I write, in varying degrees, is me, even in the H.U.B. series.

But, at the same time, I find solace in knowing that total strangers who have read my book have loved it. I find joy in the fact that even one person has spent their money on something that I have created.

It still amazes me that a reader will leave a comment to me on Goodreads.com telling me that I'm a "great writer" and that they wish they could write a book like Head Above Water. Reading that lets me know that I've accomplished what I had hoped to do, even if I may be 999,000 people short of my intended sales goal.

I find joy in myself - in the fact that I'm committed to doing something, no matter the hurdles or setbacks that I face. I love how I keep trying to find reviewers and keep finding festivals, conventions, radio shows, etc... to get my books out. It makes every penny I've spent worthwhile.