What a week!

As someone who has never published a book before, I didn’t really know what to expect from the first week of my book being available to purchase. When I decided to write and publish this book, it was out of necessity. I had all these stories to tell, but wasn’t telling them, and it was time to change that. I honestly thought my parents and a couple other people would be the only ones other than me who were excited about the book. But I was wrong.

I have received an overwhelming amount of support from people outside of my immediate circle. Family, my mom’s coworkers, old family friends who I probably have spoken to three times in my entire life, coworkers, strangers… so many people! I didn’t expect this response. I didn’t realize my community was this big. And that’s the other thing…

I tend to isolate myself a lot, even from people I love. When you create such a small bubble for yourself, you often forget that your community is big and there are so many people who care about you and the things you do. Sometimes it feels like my circle is small because I don’t have intentional relationships with a lot of people, but the people make themselves known when it is time, and I appreciate that from the depths of my soul.

My godfather (who I haven’t spoken to in years) posted the first review of my book on my mom’s Facebook page and it brought me to tears. It’s one thing to think you’ve written a decent book; it’s another thing for someone to say your book was good. To be exact, he said (in part):

Good reading…well written, easy flowing, vulnerable, honest, sad in some ways, but very uplifting in many other ways.

He also mentioned his respect for my bravery and creativity. When I received the screenshots from my mom, I texted her back and told her I was going to cry. I didn’t think I was actually going to cry, though. But I did… for, like, three whole minutes.

I haven’t yet received any additional feedback aside from what my wonderful editors Jessica and Yasmin Sara have provided, but I’m looking forward to other people’s thoughts on the book. Because I don’t want them to just buy the book, I want them to read it. I’m a writer, and I’m sensitive about my ish. I write because it’s good for my health, but I also write to tell stories that make people feel things. And if people don’t read what I’ve written, how can they feel the things?

We’ll get back to talking about other people’s books soon enough. Maybe I’ll finally finish Long Division during my vacation next week. Until then…

Happy Reading!

♥

P.S. Don’t forget we’re having a Zoom party Saturday at 6:30pm EST. Register here if you plan on attending.