Books Have One Advantage Over Fireworks

There’s a moment every writer imagines.

The day a new book finally arrives in the world.

After months, sometimes years, of writing, rewriting, editing and second-guessing every chapter, there it is. A story that has lived inside your head suddenly belongs to everyone else.

You imagine readers discovering it, messages arriving in your inbox and DM's.

You think about reviews appearing and readers starting conversations about the characters you've lived with for so long.

But, sometimes that's not exactly what happens.

Sometimes...

The world is really busy and doesn't have time for the characters that have been living in your head for months.

I've just released CLASH, the fourth novel in my Style Strike rockstar romance series and it's reminded me of something publishing quietly teaches every author sooner or later.

Books don't arrive in a vacuum. They arrive in the middle of real life, when people are travelling, when families are spending time together, when work might be busy.

Life throws unexpected challenges in our path.

Someone somewhere is celebrating falling in love.

Someone else is grieving a loss.

The world doesn't simply stop because a writer releases a novel--it just keeps turning.

Years ago, I think I would have taken a quiet launch personally, been devastated and sworn off publishing because I couldn't deal with the perceived 'rejection'.

These days, I've learned to look at things differently and publishing has taught me how to grow a thicker skin.

Because for me, writing has never really been about launch week. It's always been about building a body of work that readers can discover whenever they're ready.

Not when I'm ready...

There's a subtle difference.

Stories don't expire, they wait patiently for you to stop travelling, sit down after work, make a cup of tea and find some time for yourself.

I often think books are rather like gardens.

You don't plant seeds on Monday expecting a harvest by Friday--well, except if you're growing sprouts on the kitchen counter!

When you plant seeds in the garden, you water them.

You weed around them.

You trust that growth is happening even when you can't see anything changing on the soil's surface.

Stories, I believe, are much the same.

Some burst into bloom immediately and then pass on quickly.

Others take their time before quietly finding the readers they were always meant to find.

One of the loveliest surprises since returning to regular writing has been hearing from readers again.

Not chasing rankings.

Not obsessively checking sales reports (well, not often anyway...)

But finding and hearing from readers. Your emails. Your messages and your reviews.

The little notes saying a particular character stayed with you long after you'd finished the last page. That's the part of writing and publishing that never gets old for me.

When I first begin writing a novel, the characters exist only inside my head. They interrupt my gardening, solve plot problems while I'm in the shower and have an unfortunate habit of waking me just as I'm drifting off to sleep.

Then one day I type "The End".

And slowly, they stop belonging only to me.

They begin belonging to you as well. For me, that's still the strangest and most magical part of being a writer.

If you're spending your summer travelling, enjoying time with family or just reading a little more slowly than usual, I hope you're having a wonderful time.

My books aren't going anywhere.

Lila and Jax, the heart of CLASH, will still be waiting whenever you're ready to meet them.

That's one of the wonderful things about stories--they don't mind if life gets in the way.

They sit and wait until the right reader arrives at exactly the right moment. Then they say, "Hi," and get on with the job of telling you all about themselves.

If you've ever taken the time to send me an email, leave a review or simply tell someone else about one of my books, thank you.

You probably thought you were encouraging an author.

What you may not have realised is that you were also helping a group of imaginary people find a home in someone else's imagination.

I don't think I'll ever stop finding that a little bit magical.

Love from the word mines,

Toni x

All the books are available in KindleUnlimited