When my website first went up, I thought I’d post into this journal all the time. I thought it would be great posting updates about the publishing journey. Welp… So much for that! Quick overview: the journey has been pretty fantastic.
When I think back to July of last year when I made the first journal post, I didn’t yet know how many wonderful things were in store. Starting with garnering three (THREE?!) starred reviews, all the way to the most recent incredible news of the book joining the Project Lit Bookclub, it’s been a RIDE.
Life is interesting however, and it seemed as if with every bit of good news I got for the book, something bad would happen in my personal life. It got to the point that I dreaded seeing an “Exciting News” email in my inbox because I knew the other shoe would drop shortly. But you know what? I finally realized there was no causality and it was just this crazy little thing called life. Life is always going to be both good and bad. Not necessarily at the same time, but no one gets a pass from hardships. Some things are harder than others. Some things are going to drop you to your knees, or having you weeping in a ball in the shower, and others will make you feel like you got to sip the nectar of the gods, and having you singing (badly) in public.
A Good Kind of Trouble has been out for a bit over two months, and it already feels like it’s been ages. Last weekend, I turned in book 2 to my editor and with that hand off, immediately started to think about book 3. And that’s when it hit me that one of the best things about having a book out in the world is that the dream I had for so long became a reality, and when I think of books now, I feel like I’m not being at all ridiculous to think about when they will be published versus if.
I’m hopeful that I won’t slide into the downsies that many debut authors talk about—something that often hits soon after publication. I am guessing I won’t. Not because I’m made of stiffer stuff (I’m a complete marshmallow) but because my goal was never to become a best selling author, or a starred reviewed author, or an author with shiny foil on my cover, or one that made splashy appearances at conferences. My goal was to publish a book. Specifically a book about a Black girl trying to figure things out. And gosh darn it, that’s what I did. No matter what happens now, I will ALWAYS be a published author.
That’s pretty great.