IWSG for June 2015

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is the brilliant idea of Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the group is to share doubts and insecurities and to encourage one another. Please visit the other participants and share your support. A kind word goes a long way.

The fantastic co-hosts this month are: M. Pax, Tracy Jo, Patricia Lynne, Rachna Chhabria, Feather Stone, and Randi Lee!

I received my first quarterly check from my publisher a few weeks ago. I held the envelope in my hands and did a happy jig. Then, like Wolverine, I tore it open and froze.

No, no. That can't be right. I had a dream. My dream told me I'd earn $4700. My subconscious clearly does not know where to place decimal points. I didn't even make triple digits.

The weight of the let-down flopped me into a chair. I could barely breathe. That lasted ten seconds until the panic of wondering whether taking the risk with this series was worth it had me madly pacing the room. This isn't my usual genre. Did I ruin myself by publishing these stories? Do readers think I'm crazy? Why oh why didn't I use a pen name?

ACK!

All that self doubt and anxiety crashed down on me. There wasn't enough ice cream in the world to help this one. Time to hide in a hole. Please ignore this silly geek over here.

Now that I've had some time to let things settle down, I'm okay with the fact I did take the risk. Even if I don't sell well, I've learned a lot from this experience. And I still do believe that the stories are great fun.

We all need to hide in a hole with a barrel bucket of ice cream now and then. The real challenge is to come out and keep pushing forward. Take risks and never give up.

The 13th Floor collection blog tour is on fire!

Today I've distracted my dragonslayer with a mission out of state. I don't want him to know where I'm going. Not all dragons are evil, but I can't convince him of that!

I'm excited to be heading over to the great cave of Father Dragon. I'll be talking about the doubts I had while writing the 13th Floor series and how I managed to motivate myself to get past them.

Insecure Writer's Support Group for December 2012

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is the brilliant idea of Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the group is to share doubts and insecurities and to encourage one another. Please visit the other participants and share your support. A kind word goes a long way.

I'm eight days away from releasing the first book of my 13th Floor series. I'm sure many of you know what those days feel like. The self doubt, the panicking, the elation, the fear, and the hope. All of those mixing together causing your mood to go up and down with no warning.

I'm highly anxious about this series because I want it to represent me. I want people to recognize me as Christine Rains, the author of the 13th Floor series. Yes, I know all our stories represent ourselves as writers. Yet I have published fantasy, romance, horror, and erotica stories. I haven't put any particular one to my name, my brand. That's what I want to do with the 13th Floor series.

I think about the series all the time. The stories, the characters, the tours, how to market them, what will readers think, and can I handle it if it isn't well received. All possible scenarios go through my head. I over-think things. A lot.

I feel like I'm bracing myself for impact.

How do you prepare yourself for a release? And how do you handle the anxiety and self doubts that come with it?