I always assumed that in the week before publishing, I would be excited to the point of bursting, getting on everyone’s nerves and sharing all sorts of enticing snippets and quotes with gay abandon. Basically, wearing a permanent grin.
Not so.
I’ve been sharing a little, but I had no idea that choosing what to share would be not only difficult but frighteningly so. Would I create the opposite effect to the one I’m aiming for and actually put people off? Would I be inviting people to pick holes in my writing this early? Was I giving away things I shouldn’t be giving away?
There has also been a wibble or three of rather legendary proportions (even for me) about the fact I’m publishing at all. I had one on Friday night – fuelled by one or two celebratory rum-and-cokes – and needed a rational talking to by one of my best buddies. I was having the ‘what if everyone hates it’ wibble, at the same time as the ‘I’m can’t market it properly’ wibble and the ‘I’m alone without the help of agent/publisher’ wibble.
My friend sorted my wibbly-wobbly head out for me and I realised I was being perfectly N-word. Of course I’m going to feel that way – Quinn is my ‘baby’ and the end result has taken two-and-a-half years of sometimes very hard work. But ultimately I have loved creating him and the other characters, the world they live in and I’ve enjoyed telling the story. And if just a handful of people come back to me and say ‘Hey, I really enjoyed that!’, then my job is done. So I’m going to sit back and enjoy the wild ride!
After all, if I wanted to become rich while selling works of fiction, I’d have become a politician.