Today's the big day

I thought it would be simple. Write a book. Find someone to publish it. Quit my job and become a full-time writer. It was, and is, my dream job. But here's what happened: I started to research my book in San Antonio over 25 years ago, in 1995, shortly after I got married and accepted a teaching job there. I spent the summer researching and writing. Then we moved back to Indiana, and life happened. Teaching job. Baby #1. Grad school. Baby #2. A job change. Kids to raise. In between diaper changes, teaching, working as a college administrator, running kids to baseball, tennis, and ballet, finishing my exams and dissertation, I would steal a moment here and there to write. Bailey Rose followed me for 25 years, always there, waiting for her story to be completed.

When I looked at the manuscript one day, I realized it was well over one million words. One. Million. The book was finally done, but it was really five books, not one. No agent or publisher would take on an unknown writer who had written five books in a bygone genre, historical romance. No matter. I would do it all myself.

That's when the hard part started. Writing was easy, like skimming across the surface of a beautiful ocean. Now I had to learn how to be a graphic designer and marketing expert. So I started stealing moments here and there, trying to learn everything I could about cover art design and promotion on social networking. It took months. Years.

But today is the day. I've sent the party invitations and everything is set up for the guests. It's terrifying, actually. Will anyone come to the party?

I believe they will. I choose to believe, and to keep writing about fiercely independent, strong women, immersing my readers in new worlds that seem remarkably familiar.