You Do Love Each One As Much As The First

Happy Release Day to me – and my Holiday Brides anthology co-authors Farrah Rochon and Jewel Amethyst! I am really psyched to be celebrating here on Cigars as part of my blogosphere tour to talk about "HeavenSent.com," my novella in Holiday Brides. I’d like to thank the Cigars authors for welcoming me in their final days.

This is my third release day. I’ve had the good fortune to publish one novel and two novellas, placing me on a one-book-a-year track for the last three years. I’m also working on a novel due soon that will help me keep up the tradition in 2010. I can’t imagine this feeling ever getting old.

Coincidentally, I have three children. So, I’m able to relate my publishing feelings to having multiple kids. Yes, when I was pregnant with the first child, I wondered how I’d feel the first time I saw my baby and how my life would change afterward. Like getting that first sale, despite the suggestions and admonishments from those who’d gone before me, nothing really prepared me for seeing MY book on the shelves for the first time.

And despite a bucketload of sage wisdom about the impending onslaught, I was ill-prepared for the relentless demand for promotion in the days and weeks that followed. It was indeed a lot like the sleepless nights I’d read about in Dr. Spock’s childcare book: the constant grind of feeding, changing, nurturing and not sleeping hits like a sledgehammer.

Yet, apparently I found the experience more than tolerable. It was obviously downright worthwhile because I was graced with two more children, just as I now have two more books to claim. Being an author is incredibly hard work. Being a parent is the most rewarding job on earth (so I hear). Weaving the two into some semblance of a life is a whole separate blog topic. Suffice it to say that I manage.

I don’t love any one of my children more than the others, though I love them each differently. They have their similarities – the way my books are all paranormal. But the variances in my kids range from food preferences, to temperament, to friend choices and favorite hobbies. In the same way, each of my stories feature different characters, plots and conflicts.

The first novel will always be special because it was the first; the one that made my dream come true and proved that I could do this writing thing. Today’s release is special because, hey, I did it again and there are still more stories waiting to be told. I’m not at the point in my publishing career where churning out books is my full-time job, so each time I type The End makes me believe I’ve performed some kind of miracle.

I like that feeling and I hope it’s one I never lose – whether the occasion marks my fifth, twenty-fifth or fiftieth book. Just as each new story gets its own spot on the bookshelf in my office, each release day gets to claim its own special space in my heart. Thanks for being a part of today’s happy event.

In celebration of the release of Holiday Brides, I’ll be giving away a signed copy of the anthology to one person who comments on my post today. Good luck and enjoy the story!

***

You can read more about HeavenSent.com (from the Holiday Brides anthology) and the first chapter of the story on my web site at http://www.stefanieworth.com/HeavenSent.html

You can also connect with me on Facebook (www.facebook.com/stefanieworth), Twitter (www.twitter.com/stefanieworth) or MySpace (www.myspace.com/stefanieworth).