24 Hours Until Launch

I thought I was going to be all cool and suave and try to act like my first book coming out wasn't a big deal. I wanted be all, yeah, it's cool, and be professional and not spam up twitter and facebook and squeal every time something cool happened.

Yeah, um, I kind of failed. I got choked up last night when I saw my amazing editor Sue Grimshaw on USA Today talking about BECAUSE OF YOU. I was sitting in my study, attempting to revise a scene and instead, I was bawling like a baby (I haven't slept in 2 nights, so there's that, too. I'm not just a cotton headed ninny muggings, I swear). I went from crying to holy crap I wish my husband was here for me to celebrate with. Someone to jump up and down and sqee with (okay he's not a jump up and down kind of guy but still, you get the idea).

The whole process for bringing BECAUSE OF YOU to print has actually been really smooth. But each time a new milestone hit, the day it was up for preorder, the day I first got below the 10,000 rank on Amazon (I know, I know, the numbers don't mean anything) the day the first of so many awesome blurbs came in. And then the reviews, too.

I didn't just sell a book that no one wanted. I sold a book that people like. That had one great reviewer emailing me and telling me how much my book wrecked her and she couldn't stop thinking about it for days. That's the most awesome thing someone could tell me.

Someone told me that 5 years to write and sell that first book isn't really all that long when you consider in that time frame I had a toddler, moved from Fort Benning to Fort Gordon, back to Fort Hood. Went to Iraq. Commanded a company. And a whole slew of other things. When you look at it like that, yeah, it wasn't a lot of time. But to quote Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon, I have stubbornness issues.

So I'm sorry I've been kind of spamming up twitter. I'm a little excited that BECAUSE OF YOU is coming out. I was literally considering giving up for a little while when Sue called and said she really loved it. And I know that it's supposed to be about the book and the art but for me, just a little bit, it's kind of a validation that I didn't suck. That I was actually writing a story that spoke to people about something I'm a little passionate about.

So to everyone who has supported me, who has retweeted or shared a link on facebook or who didn't unfollow or unfriend me for spamming up their timelines, thank you. Everyone who has already ordered BECAUSE OF YOU. Thank you. I hope it doesn't let you down.

Thanks, gang, for going on this amazing roller coaster ride with me. It's been a long, strange trip but never boring!