tonypeak.net
CONTACT:
  • Home
  • Blog & News Feed
  • Published Work
    • Redshift Runners >
      • Parallax
      • Dying Suns
      • Termination Vector
    • Hero Dawn Online
    • Eden trilogy >
      • Eden Descending
      • Eden's Tears
      • Eden's Crown
    • Signal
    • Inherit the Stars
    • The Last Eternity
    • Wages of Cinn
    • Prophet of Pathways
    • Beethoven's Tenth
    • Short Fiction
  • Medium
  • Patreon
  • About
  • Contact

Inherit the Stars: Release Day!

11/3/2015

1 Comment

 
​Finally, the day has arrived: November 3rd, 2015. The day I can stop retweeting ‘preorder my book!’, the day I can start worrying about the reviews I’ll get, and the day I’m supposed to gulp down several bottles of champagne.
 
It’s the day I can honestly say that I am a professionally published novelist. A real science fiction author.
 
I can remember signing that contract like it was yesterday, wondering if the release date would ever arrive, when would I get to see the cover art, or when would the ARCs go out to interested readers and publications. Now that the big day is here, I feel I have forgotten something, or there’s another task to complete, or I neglected to meet a deadline buried somewhere in my inbox. A writer’s life isn’t filled with celebratory toasts, pats on the back, or ticker tape parades, you know.
 
On my debut novel’s release day, all I can think about is: what comes next?
 
The obvious answer is to keep writing, keep submitting. But there are other considerations now. The way people view me, and the way I view myself.
 
It feels great to sign a copy of my book for someone, but it’s also strange. As my pen scratches my name on the title page, I try to think of clever, meaningful things to say. My cursive is horrible, so I have to print out the message, save for my signature at the end, which, despite practice, still resembles rejected characters from a chicken alphabet. Then it hits me that I really wrote this frigging thing, and I try not to screw up my signature.
 
Some of my relatives now say ‘hey, I know someone famous!’, but I merely grin and shake my head. I’m not a celebrity by any stretch, but it’s nice to think that anyone would think I’m cool now. I mean, one of my nieces Googled me, so that should mean something, right? Maybe I’ll get a Wikipedia page soon—the goal of all serious novelists.
 
I won’t know what fellow authors think unless they read my book, but we’re all part of the same club—one in which I can hold my head high, regardless of the novel’s success.
 
Some people may think ‘hey, you’ve made it!’, but no—all I did was climb a hill that allows me to actually see the mountain of challenges ahead. But the important thing is…now I know that I can climb.
 
So really, what is next?
 
I’ve already written both sequels to Inherit the Stars; one is in polished form, the other was written this past August. The story was always meant to be a trilogy, though the setting itself could be expanded in a second series. I have other science fiction and fantasy novels completed that I hope to get published, and I’m gearing up to write a brand new science fiction novel this month. I’d love to pen an epic fantasy saga down the road. There’s no end to the projects I have in mind.
 
Plus…I have more confidence now. No one can accuse me of pursuing a ‘thankless hobby’—which writing never was to me. Since I started writing seriously, it has always been, and remains, my passion. I have succeeded where many others have failed, and I know all too well just how special any success in this business is.
 
Now, I have business cards to pass out. I need to schedule myself for cons. I need to book some signings. My philosophy of ‘if you don’t regard yourself as a professional, then no one else will’ is now more important than ever. The pressure doesn’t go away simply because I achieved my first success.
 
Yet there is still much to celebrate. If writing were always a miserable enterprise, I wouldn’t do it. I love what I do. C’mon, you can order my book from Amazon, it’s on the shelf at Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million, and it got a nice nod from Publishers Weekly! It’s got a great cover and has the thickness of an epic. Wooo! Beyond such achievements, though, is the real release this day: it is the new me, no longer crippled by self-doubt and disillusionment. It is the start of a new chapter in my life, and my career. Inherit the Stars, indeed.
 
So…anyway. I can’t drink too much champagne, or sing out of tune to ‘We Are the Champions’ all night long. Remember: I’ve got another book to write. 
1 Comment

    Tony's Blog

    Updated (ir)regularly. 

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Cinema
    Gaming
    Modernity
    Music
    Writing

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    July 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    March 2019
    December 2018
    September 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    January 2017
    August 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2012

    RSS Feed

Tweets by @tonypeak78
Goodreads: Book reviews, recommendations, and discussion