Warning: this is an edit-free zone…
A few days ago, I received an email from a writer who sold her first book. She was as excited as only one who has pursued relentlessly a cherished dream for five years and finally has realized it. Picture her floating four feet off the ground, her smile so broad every filling in every tooth is revealed, and her eyes are shining overly bright. Her arms are lifted, hands fisted and pumping higher, and she’s shouting a heartfelt “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
Today, I received a second email from her. “When does the excitement wear off?” she asks. “I’m still so excited I can’t think!”
“Give me a second,” I type, then pause to think about it. Memory takes me back to my own first-sale call. The pure joy, realizing the dream and feeling I’d conquered my world. The immediate certainty the editor had screwed up and really had meant to buy someone else’s book, and she’d call back and say so. (That had me dodging phone calls for a solid two days!) And then the overwhelming surety that every single person who read the book would hate it with a vengeance and definitely let me know it. And then again the joy, completing the circle that would replay a million times in my mind and heart.
“I don’t know,” I told her. “Yesterday, my 17th and 18th books, DOUBLE VISION and SMOKESCREEN, are being released. And all I can tell you with certain authority is that the excitement hasn’t worn off yet.”
I hit Send, facing the computer screen, floating four feet off the ground, my smile so broad every filling in every tooth is revealed, and my eyes, reflecting in the screen, are shining overly bright. I lift my arms, my hands fisted, and pump them higher, whispering a heartfelt “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
Blessings,
Vicki Hinze
Trust is earned, one book at a time.”
–Vicki Hinze https://vickihinze.com
Note: I edit books and professional correspondence. But I do NOT edit email or this blog. This is chat time for me, so if the grammar is goofed or a word’s spelled wrong, please just breeze on past it. I’d appreciate it–and salute you with my coffee cup. 🙂
You are permitted to use the blog post above in its entirety, free of charge, provided you include the following text:
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Copyright 2005. Vicki Hinze
Vicki Hinze is a multi-published author, who has a free library of her articles on writing–the craft, business and life–at https://www.vickihinze.com.
