One year ago today…

As it turns out, my first book, Lovely Wicked, released at Noble Romance on September 18th, 2010. Being fairly obtuse, that didn’t occur to me until Sept 18th was pretty much gone, but. BUT. It’s a milestone and I loves me some milestones. So for all you pre-published writers, fellow newbies (like me!) and readers who wonder just how steep the learning curve is, a nod to what life was like one year ago today.

One year ago today:
…I was still waiting for my author account to be activated at Goodreads — I’d yet to make a friend, join a group or post a giveaway
…I’d never had a book selected as a five-star Top Pick or received a one-star rating/review
…tweetdeck, hashtags, RT — whut?
…my email inbox was EMPTY. crickets, I tell you. crickets
…and WTH is syncing?
…I’d never stared blankly at a royalty statement & wondered, “this is good, right?”
…I had no idea how to do an html newsletter and wasn’t even sure what that was
…I didn’t know what to do about pirates, matey
…The banner on this site was, in a word, tragic
…I’d yet to snicker gleefully while writing a scene, knowing, just knowing readers were gonna lose their minds
…I didn’t even own my Kindle yet
…That writers or readers might want to meet me at a conference never occurred to me
…No one had ever asked me for a sequel (or threatened serious bodily injury in lieu of same)
…I thought I understood Amazon’s ranking system (I was so grossly wrong)
…Fanfic? Er…okay…what’s that?
…I hadn’t squicked over gunporn, nor had my virginal ears ever encountered words like cockdocking, edging, mpreg or ponyplay
…I feared my excess of personality might be a distracting disadvantage (I was wrong about that too)
…I never once considered suggesting a slave auction as a “really cool idea, dude”
…or instigated a blood feud
…I hadn’t signed a contract on proposal or faced down a deadline
…or made so many friends
…and enemies
…but mostly friends

One year. Only one year.

If you’ve ever read, rated, reviewed, emailed, talked to me on twitter or GR, said hi or hung out while I was in New York, helped me muddle through any of my bazillion newbie questions or offered to rip out anyone’s throat on my behalf…Thank you. Genuinely. Sincerely. No smartassery involved. The destination isn’t nearly as important as the journey, dudes. And it’s already been one helluva ride. 😉