I’m not sure how to top the news from yesterday. I don’t think I can at this point.

I’m overwhelmed at the support, and the encouragement I’ve seen since I’ve announced this…the number of comments and likes on Facebook, the responses on Twitter, and the number of visitors to the site in the last 24-48 hours has been phenomenal.

You guys do get that just because I signed the contract this week doesn’t mean that it gets released tomorrow, right?

The official release date has not yet been set. It’s likely several months away.

Let me lay a few things to rest:

1)      No, I’m not quitting my day job.

This is my first published novel (not the first novel I’ve written, but the first one to be accepted for publication). To date, my writing income is a four figure amount…if you count the figures that come after the decimal point. I’ve got a mortgage, a student loan payment, and a car payment, and I’d like to, well, buy groceries and pay the electric bill, too. All of that means I need the day job.

And well, the health insurance and dental insurance are nice, too. Writing doesn’t come with benefits, usually.

2)      You’ve made it…you wanted to get published. You ready to put that writing thing away yet?

Boy, if someone’s thinking this, they sure don’t know me. I’ve been writing fiction in various forms and states of completion since I was eight years old. Writing’s not ever gonna go away.

Technically, however, I’m already published, even before my news yesterday, with the anthology MYSTERY TIMES TEN, which came out this past summer. My short story, “Poltergeist on Aisle Fourteen” was included. That didn’t stop me from seeking out a publisher for my novel. And it hasn’t stopped me from working on the novel I’m writing now. Or the outline for the novel after that. Or making notes for other projects. Or working on new short stories. Or submitting the short stories that are ready.

So what’s my bigger goal?

Well, to take over the world, of course.

No, seriously, it’s not. I’m kidding. (Maybe 😉 But I believe that setting goals for ourselves is important. And when you reach a goal…you set a new one…who knows, maybe my next goal will be learning to juggle baby geese (bonus points if you get this reference!)

Nah, it’s to finish the current novel.  I’m allergic to feathers, anyway.

3)      What did you do to celebrate?

Well, my best friend lives a couple of hours away, with her husband and baby. We all love to cook and try new foodie things, so I went down there for the weekend. Brother and his girlfriend live closer to them than to where I live, so they joined us. We joked and laughed and talked and watched movies and opened a bottle of wine or three, had yummy snacks and a lovely dinner…and Boston cream pie for dessert.

And talked life, the universe, and writing, among other things.

Because I am that kind of geek.

And then, breakfast with friends, driving home for a writer’s group meeting, and cuddling up with a good book at the end of the night with the fuzzy minion purring away in my lap.

I count that as a pretty awesome weekend.