My palms sweat, my heart flutters and I try to remain outwardly calm. Inside I am a raging volcano.  I’m incredibly excited about my first ever book signing!  I’m practicing my signature so you can read it.  I keep trying different pens to see which one is best (I think I like the gel pens because I don’t have enough flair in my signature for a Flair pen).

I made an event on Facebook, sent a press release to the newspaper, and I am sure it will hit the front page of the Sunday edition, and I printed up posters for Hastings’ front door.   I’ve picked out my outfit. Now what?  I need to relax. I need to get on with my life and get back to writing the three books waiting patiently on my computer that are being neglected.

I’m a writer.  I am driven to write and put on paper things others don’t see.  Or they see them, but not with the artists eye.  I want to be the best of the best, so I practice my craft and strive to show how interesting life is – not just drift through it trudging to work each day for someone else. I want to hold a mirror up to the world and say, “look at what is happening around you – the world is beautiful, or the world is sad, or heartbreaking, or horrific,” but never mundane.  I want to leave a legacy – to be remembered.

No wonder I’m nervous about the book signing.  I set the bar a little high.

In my quest for balance in my life this year I am planning to do more writing for myself and less for contests.  I’ve learned a lot from contests but even more from my fellow writers, editors and publishers.   The support I get from the writers in the Enid Writers’ Club, Oklahoma Writers Federation  and Oklahoma Women Bloggers has shoved me over the edge into a new world of writing.

It’s Saturday March 15, 2014 from 6 -8 at Hastings in Enid.  Wish me luck!