I am vibrating with excitement.
My first novel is up in paperback format on Amazon, ready for readers.
The feeling reminds me of a moment nineteen years ago when I was standing in Portland, Maine, by the waterfront in shorts and t-shirt, waiting with a bunch of other well-dressed people, for the start of the Maine Marathon. I had never thought I could run a marathon, like ever in my life, but there I was. I remember taking deep breaths, looking around, pressing my feet into the ground to feel myself, and reminding myself that I had spent a year of my life preparing for this start. I had spent a lot of time and energy to get to this point, and I couldn’t predict the next few hours, but I knew that I’d be running.
Similarly, I’ve spent the last year working on this book, dreaming of it, writing, revising, working with editors (thank you to Lara Zielinski and Beth Attwood), my cover designer (thank you, Claire Smith), and gleaning information from the folks at 20Booksto50K (a Facebook group for self-publishers). I never believed I’d write a long-form fiction piece, but now I have. Pushing the “publish” button felt a lot like standing at the start of the marathon, waiting for the air horn to signal the beginning of the race.
So….there it is! A Talisman of Home is available in paperback on Amazon. I’ll let you know when you can find it in Kindle format. In the meantime, I’m sipping tea and thinking about baking and wondering what this marathon will be like.