thirtydaystoglorysliderThe countdown clock has reached Fourteen Days! Only one more Monday, two hump days, and a weekend before the release of Thirty Days to Glory. I’ve held a proof copy in my hands already, and let me tell you it was surreal. Words that have danced across my computer screen and in my brain for years are finally lined up on a printed page.

Surreal. And scary.

I’m not worried about total strangers reading this book. I hope it blesses them. I hope they laugh. And cry. And say, “I can do that!” But I’m not worried about their judgments. If they hate it, I’ll probably never know. If I do know, it won’t break my heart. (Hopefully.)

But the most frightening moment was when I sent twenty-five review copies to people I know and love. People like Judy Coleen. We learned to read together, for goodness sake! No one could be more important in my literary career than that.

I don’t want to embarrass people like Judy or make them have to search for kind words when they review the book. So, I held my breath (figuratively) while childhood friends, former students, and fellow writers turned my pages.

Judy must have known how I felt. (She usually does.) Because she started shooting me encouraging emails within hours. By the time she finished the book, I was crying happy tears. And I suddenly realized I didn’t care what any other critic in the world says about my work. Judy Coleen, former member of the Bluebird Reading Circle in Mrs. Epperson’s first grade classroom, current head of the English Department in our shared high school, Bff since before we ever went to school… likes my book.

That’s pretty much all that matters.