I released my first novel back in 2021 and the world looked much different and still feels different even today. I hunkered down and spent six months writing it and once it was published I felt a sense of satisfaction that one of my life long goals has been completed. The nervousness then came as I learned afterwards the hard part is not writing the book, but promoting it.

Being that I’ve been in the book community as an author since 2013, but its been a interesting to still be a part of the blogging space while equally being an author. I’ve definitely had to change my mindset around the way I think and how I approach books. Being an introvert it has been a bit challenging to do author events at first, but now it comes with a lot of ease. I love being surrounded by other writers who support each other and to bounce ideas off.

When approaching my current piece of work (my sophomore novel), I sat and thought “now what?” I feel a bit intimated as I write, making sure not to repeat the same story, but also keep aspects of the first novel that readers would enjoy. When I wrote my first book I knew I wanted it to be a love letter to my hometown while taking some inspiration from my youth. It took me a long time to find the spark for the idea for my current piece.

Working as well has cut into my writing time, and somedays I feel a little bit burnt out creatively. I try not to be so hard on myself and let the brainstorm sessions form naturally rather than forcing them. This time around I plan to set more strict deadlines for myself to meet milestones as I write to have more structure. I’m also hoping the writing process overall will be much smoother because I am more familiar with writing full-length pieces.

When I get frustrated with myself I remind myself why I love books so much and why I continue to write. To create a world that somebody can immerse themselves in and escape from the world for a little while. Realistically I’m coming to terms with the fact with no two books are the same and I’m remembering to trust my instincts as I continue to keep writing.