Scared Witless

Maybe every author goes through this. Maybe I'm not the only one freaking out here. But if other authors ever felt the way I do, they've survived it with better grace that I am.

Tomorrow my first novel, The Stranger She Married, will be released in ebook. I'm excited. I'm terrified. I can hardly breathe.

At long last, a dream I've secretly nurtured since 7th grade is coming to fruition. I can't wait to see my name on the cover of a book. I've finally done it. All those critiques by contest judges and critique partners, all the disappointments and frustrations are finally about to be worth it.

And yet, what if no one buys it? And worse, what if no one LIKES it?

I've read some awful books that didn't deserve to be in print. I've read a bunch of mediocre books that I forgot about a few days later. The thought of being placed in one of those categories makes me break out into a cold sweat. But when I read other books by some of my favorite authors, I KNOW I'm not that good and I wonder what made me think I could ever write? And do I really want to make myself that open and vulnerable by publishing what I write? Will people see too much into my soul? Will they think nothing is there?

Oh, what in the world was I thinking?