After five years of outlining, writing, editing, and working away, I am finally able to hold my debut novel in my hands. I received my soft cover proof copy from Ingramspark last Friday, still waiting on the hardcover but it shouldn’t be too far off.

It was incredible to see it, there really isn’t any feeling like it. The thing is REAL now, a physical thing I can hold in my hands. Seeing the entire product come together has been amazing. The cover design by Daniel Schmelling looks great, the interior art by Jason Michael Hall is incredible and crisp, and all the work my editors and proofreader and formatter accomplished is all perfectly on display.

After getting the novel, I sat down to read. I’ll admit, anxiety overtook me and I had a minor panic attack. Now that it was real, it was also terrifying. I nitpicked over my words and felt a little stupid, it bugged me for a bit. After the initial shock, I re-read the first five chapters with a clear head and found that I enjoyed it more. I do the same things with films I work on. The first time I sit down to watch the final product I feel like everything is moving too fast and I think people will hate it, only to find out no one else feels the same way and they typically tend to enjoy it.

I think it stems from having worked on a project for a long period of time. On a film, I can be involved for months or a year, so when the final product comes and its only 2 hours, it feels super fast. With this novel, I had been plotting and working on it for almost half a decade, so my initial reaction was total dread. When I went back to read it, I read it like a real reader would, and found that it was enjoyable.

As the author, you’ll always find things you want to tweak, but eventually you have to let your baby go. A project is never FINISHED, it is only RELEASED.

It’s been a dream come true to make it to this point, and I hope readers will enjoy their ride to Kamaria on the Telemachus come OCTOBER 4th 2020.