Anticipation.....is making me insane...

Ah, Carly Simon: how I feel your pain!  Anticipation kept you "waitin' but it has caused me much more than just mild angst as I am "waitin" here, stuck atop a large box of pins and needles, the sensation that my ass is on fire overwhelming me, causing me to twitch and nervously bounce in my chair, ever since Saturday, waiting for the phone call/email that will change my life. 

You see, I embarked on this crazy writing journey about six months ago, as I hit "Save and Continue?" on the submit screen that allowed Accountable to None to go live on sale.  All that excitement; all the build up; all those hours of editing, revising, typing until my fingernails disappeared and my fingertips lost all feeling; painstakingly fretting over cover design, pricing, distribution, etc., and then Poof! with one click of a button, it was over.

Almost 700+ books later (between Amazon and Barnes&Noble) and one personal and fan page on Facebook, a Twitter account and trying to figure out how in the world to manage a website while creating my very own book trailer, my hair appointments to gently wash away my white hair have drastically shrunk from every 6 weeks to 3-4!

Writing the book was much easier.  Marketing it: not so much.

This last week has run the full gamut of emotions for me, and of course, this being Arkansas, the weather right along with them.  On Monday of last week, I left work and stepped into my sweltering black car, greeted by 92 degrees - in mid-October mind you, and then less than two days later, woke up to a temperature of 29 degrees.   These vastly different temperature changes just so happened to coincide with ups and downs of being a writer.  On Monday, sales surged and I was thrilled, but by Thursday, I was staring at a screen that contained sales numbers that hadn't changed, hoping and praying each time I logged in, it would be different.

But, this is Arkansas, and as the old saying goes, "Stick around, the weather will change" has never been better exemplified to me than by this past weekend, for Friday evening was chilly, but Saturday was gorgeous! 

It was also when my first big review by author Lindsay Anne Kendal was posted on her site, as well as on her newest endeavor, a review page on Facebook which she is graciously offering her honest reviews of books submitted to her.  As I read her review, I went outside into the cool night air and cried.

What I wanted, no, what I hoped for, ever since I sat at my computer and began pecking away the first words, was for the visions in my mind to somehow translate on paper and fill the reader's mind with the same images.  Now, not to demean the opinions of my husband, family and friends that have already supported me by not only reading ATN, but recommending to others (thank you all, love each of you to pieces!) but as I was explaining via the modern technological version of a phone conversation, the "text" with a close friend, it is one thing to have a friend/family member give you the proverbial "thumbs up" on your work, and though much appreciated each time you hear it, it is quite another to have a complete stranger that only knows you by the words they see in the print you slaved over, give your work a high review, well, that is quite a different feeling.

Ok, back to the pins and needles....

Because of Lindsay's rave review, I am impatiently waiting to hear back from a publisher, and I am a nervous wreck!  It is a beautiful day outside today, and should be this nice for the next two days, before rain heads our way: I am praying that I hear the news on the sunny, warm days, rather than the rainy, cold and drizzly ones!

Now, how's that for ramblin?