WORDS CAN'T EXPRESS

I'm a writer. However, I can't find the words to adequately express how grateful I am to everyone who celebrated my book release with me.
You guys and gals are the best ever. Ever. The best.

Friday, the Underwater Web War was awesome! So many of you blogged about it, chose a team of sea creatures, and tweeted about it. I saw so many comments from people who hadn't heard of Tangled Tides before reading your posts. I even saw some people commenting that they hadn't heard of selkies until reading about the war. I gained about fifteen new supporters in three days. Thank you so much.

Many of you retweeted about my contests, my updates, and all kinds of other supportive information. The #TangledTides hashtag flooded the Twitterverse and it warmed my heart to see it each and every time. Thank you so much.

The Twitter contest was such a hit that I ended up doing a second contest. The second one hit like a tidal wave and I ended up choosing two more winners to receive signed books. I gained about twenty-five new followers and met some amazing people because of it. Thank you so much.

Saturday, my paperback climbed the Amazon charts to a ranking of 36,790. I could hardly believe it.
Sunday, my ebook climbed the Amazon Kindle ranking to 8,668. (The lower the number, the better.) I almost passed out.
So many of you rewteeted the link to Amazon, or people ended up buying my book because of your blog posts and support. Thank you so so much.

Some of you posted reviews on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and/or Goodreads. I made so many new Goodreads friends that I wanted to have a party. It was beyond exciting. Thank you so much.

But here's the thing I'm most thankful for: THE BEFORE.

So many of you have been blogging with me for months, some for years. We knew each other (even if only virtually) before I ever had a book deal. I read your posts, you read my posts. We laughed together, stressed together, struggled together, celebrated together, and LEARNED together. Sometimes we apologized for being too busy to read posts and comment (goodness knows I haven't been visiting and commenting as much as I'd like to lately.) But when my big day came, it meant the world to me to have so many of you there with me.

I am here because of you.

You have taught me, inspired me, encouraged me, comforted me, strengthened me, and humbled me. Writing, and the journey to publishing, is an emotional roller coaster. What fun is a roller coaster ride if you're on the coaster alone? Thank you for riding with me.
And please, don't jump off anytime soon. So many climbs and drops, and screams and laughs are still up ahead for all of us. It's way more fun if we ride together.

The success I had on my launch day was because of you.
I am well aware of that. I am grateful for that. I am grateful for you.

I am not a big-name author. I'm not on any Best Seller list. But some day, by some miracle, if I ever become somewhat big time, or if I ever make it onto an important list, I will not forget where I cam from.

I will remember how I got there.
I will remember all of the friends and supporters who helped me along the way.


Seriously, thank you so much. My gratitude is deeper than the oceans.


(I promise to post stats of the Underwater Web War soon. There are a lot of votes to tally!)