Tell Me Again Why I'm Doing This?

"Give someone a book, they'll read for a day. Teach someone how to write a book, they'll experience a lifetime of paralyzing self doubt."—Lauren DiStefano, author of Burning Kingdoms

Book number eleven, novel number ten, “Augusta McKee Mystery” number four, is waiting for me to hit that magical “Publish My Book” button on Kindle Direct Publishing. Yikes. 

 Every time I get to this point, I have this moment. What in the world am I doing? Despite all the edits, proofreads, read-throughs by beta readers, this book has to have mistakes in it. Beginning with the entire concept of the story. I should just sneak away and forget about releasing it – despite the fact I’ve already announced that it will be available October 1. Two days from today. 

 What would happen if I reneged, other than my having a large amount of egg on my face? The sun’ll come up tomorrow. (I know you sang that, I just did.) Grass will grow, flowers will bloom, the rivers will continue to run.

This is my child, my precious child, I’m about to push out into the cold, cruel world. Will it get a cold shoulder or a welcoming reception? Will anybody read it? Will the people who read it like it? Maybe I should let it stay home today. Or for a month. Or forever. I’ll read it.

My author friends assure me all of us go through this period of self-doubt. That’s really kind of a mild way of putting it. It’s more like a sense of “whatever possessed me to sit down at my computer and start putting words together when I have no idea what I’m doing and I have absolutely no business doing this.”

And if you think it will get better with time, I fervently hope you are correct, because at this point it’s gotten worse with every book. While I’m writing it, I have the greatest time imaginable. I completely lose myself in the book. My characters take over my life. I dream about them. I tell them to please go sit in the corner so I can go to the bank and avoid wrecking my car in the process. I’m sure I walk right past friends in the supermarket and don’t even see them because Augusta or Malcolm is talking to me about a plot point. And before those two, it was Andrew and Jake Cameron. They had my attention for over two years. 

Oh, I will follow through and click on that box, and watch The Case of the Purloined Professor go live on Amazon, and I’ll spread the word via social media that it’s available. And wait anxiously for the first reviews (and wish more people would kindly consider writing even a couple of lines for a review … we just never get enough, unless our name is Stephanie Meyer or John Grisham or Stephen King. Or the ex-billionaire, J. K. Rowling).

I truly am enjoying writing this mystery series. I like Augusta McKee and Malcolm Mitchell and their friends and family. It’s a thrill to feel that Augusta has a following, and I hope it continues to grow. I love that I’m learning so much about police work, its demands and intricacies (with many, many thanks to Stephen Kramer and the Greater Cincinnati Police Historical Society and Museum), and the limitations policing had in the mid-1960s—despite which they did remarkable work. Our law enforcement officers are dedicated, effective, and some of the bravest people on

the planet.

 There’s my answer … I do it because I love what I’m learning, and I love being able to share it with the nice people who read my books. After all, that’s what art is. A means of sharing our passion, whether it’s art, music, dance, theater, or literature. And I’m blessed with the desire and, it seems, the ability to share my passion for music through literature.

Yes, I guess I just answered my own question. Get ready, The Case of the Purloined Professor. You can do this. October first! Get out there and do your stuff!

Thank you for your support, dear reader. It means more than you know.

To learn more please see my Amazon author page:
https://www.amazon.com/Susan-Moore-Jordan/e/B00IBZ731U/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1