So, it’s two days before the launch of The End of Everything, and the butterflies in my stomach are flapping much more than usual. Eight weeks ago I left full-time employment to become an author, and although Safe Haven is popular and its following keeps growing every day, I have no right to expect people to read my work, I have to earn it.

I hope people will read The End of Everything, and even more, I hope they’ll enjoy it. I hope they’ll love the journey to this new place as much as I’ve loved writing it. But I will never take a reader for granted. I will never have the arrogance to rest on my laurels and expect.

The cover has been sorted, the manuscript has been uploaded, my advertising has been lined up, the newsletter is ready to go out, and the other thousand things that I need to get ready for launch day are ready. Of course, something will go wrong, it always does. I’m human, with a list of faults longer than one of Spiderman’s webs, but when that thing goes wrong, I’ll deal with it. The stuff that I can do something about, I can handle, it’s the stuff I can’t control that makes my palms start sweating.

As the seconds tick by, and I wait for the book to go live on Amazon, I occupy my time with all sorts. I broke off from the first edit of another manuscript to write this. The End of Everything Book 2, will be out within a month of the first, all being well, that’s probably another reason why my mind’s working overtime. If people don’t like book one, then they’re not going to like book 2, but I’ve already committed to that, and the third one as well. What can I tell you? I’m a gambler.

The thing is, it’s a gamble worth taking. I don’t write to a plan, I don’t write to market, I write what’s inside me. I go on an emotional journey every time I sit down and start typing. If I don’t invest myself in a story, then why would someone want to waste their precious time reading it? I suppose that’s the big parallel I can draw, and my big hope… The End of Everything Book 1 is the start of a new journey, but one that’s straight from the gut, just like the Safe Haven series. It’s my true hope that people take to it in the same way.

Well, that’s enough fretting for the time being. We’ll know the verdict soon enough. It’s Time for me to carry out one of my most important duties in life…Daisy needs her walk. (Then it’s back to work…honest).