Release Day Jitters

It's release day for Love in the Clouds and I am a wreck. I go through this every time I have something new come out. Writing is so personal and no matter what I write, I always leave a piece of myself in the story. And this one? So much of myself went into it.

Growing up, flying was a big part of my life. My grandparents, my dad, and both of his brothers were pilots. My dad even built a two-seater, single engine Mustang. He started out building the wings in the basement, then moved them to a hangar at the local airport, where he finished it. I don't have a lot of good memories of my dad, but those revolving around the plane and flying are memories I hold dear.

Researching for this story brought back a lot of those good memories and I found myself lost in it all. I even dug out old photos (sharing one with you of the wing when it was still in the basement of the house). I enjoyed writing this so much I’m already working on another story based in the same town (and will have flying in it again). It’s a love story for two characters introduced in the book. I’ll let you guess which two!

So, putting so much of myself into a story is hard- even when it’s something small or possibly insignificant- because I’m letting part of who I am show. Being a shy person, that can be overwhelming.

But that’s not the only reason I have jitters. As each release day nears, I grow increasingly convinced I will be found out- that I’m just a fraud trying to write. I think most writers go through it- most likely anyone in the arts does.

Once release day hits, I usually calm down. I guess it’s just become a part of my “New Release Ritual”. But I keep writing my stories because I just can’t stop myself! It's funny when I think about it. I get the jitters when I have a story coming out, but the way I calm down is to write. Like I said, i just can't stop myself.

Here's the picture of the airplane wing I mentioned. And the second image is a little ditty I wrote up to the tune of the Flintstones theme song. I'm sorry if it gets into you head. It certainly wouldn't get out of mine!