I'm going to try a new thing for the Fridays when I remember to blog. Instead of attempting "Friday 5" or "Friday 4" or Friday with any other number behind it, I will instead attempt "List Friday" which means I can make a list of any amount of items. Sometimes my list will have three things on it! Sometimes--like today--my list will have six! It's a whole new world, I'm telling you!
2. Mere days after I got my book deal and joined the Tenners, Trish Doller posted letting me know that some bloggers had told her that they were excited about my book. I thought to myself, Oh, isn't that so sweet? And then the reality hit me. They were excited to read my book! Not only that, but they might very well one day actually read my book! It was overwhelming and wonderful all at the same time.
3. A few weeks before ARCs were printed, my editor let me know that the woman who had copyedited Freefall sent an email saying that she loved the book. Then my editor wrote me again pasting the exact words that had been said about it. This was the first time that feedback from someone other than my agent, editor, or a critique partners had been passed on to me, and it was my first taste of what People Out There might say. It was a great start.
4. This past summer, Dwayne and I were eating dinner at Panera when my phone indicated that I had a new email. I tried to resist looking, but I just couldn't stop myself. The email was a Google Alert (hooray for Google Alerts!), letting me know that a review was up at Goodreads by Amber at Just Your Typical Book Blog. This was only the second review ever posted for my book. It included words like "best" and "favorite" and I burst into tears right then and there. I had to get the rest of my dinner to go because I couldn't concentrate on the food anymore.
5. A few days before my book's release date, I received a Google Alert (damn you, Google Alerts!) letting me know that someone had posted about my book, the gist of which was that my book didn't matter and was a waste of time. I spent the whole day watching movies on the couch, eating ice cream and popcorn, and worrying that the whole world was going to feel this way. (Never mind the twenty or so reviews out there that already said the opposite.) It was my biggest fear, really. Sure, I don't want people to hate my book, either, but indifference stabs in a completely different way. Then that night, I took a break from the movies at my house to see a movie at the $3 theater by my house. (What a day, what a day!) Afterward, Dwayne drove me to Barnes & Noble where Freefall was already on the shelves. I then petted my books and cried for other reasons.
6. A few weeks after my book's release, I got an email from the mother of a teenage boy. She said he'd chosen Freefall for himself and she wanted to get a peek at what he was reading. She ended up staying up until 2am to finish it. She feels like this book has given her an opening to talk about some difficult things with him, and she thanked me for writing it. Which is just . . . wow. I mean, WOW!