#OctoberFrights: The Scariest Thing an Author Will Do

Welcome to Day Four of the the annual October Frights Blog Hop, organized by Clarissa Johal.

Each year, all styles of dark writers get together to rattle their cages and talk about what makes them howl. It's October, after all. This is the time of year we can get away with it...

It's a chance to talk about the scary things. So far on this tour, I've visited many of the other blogs and found witches, zombies, lurchers (sounds scary but dang it, if they ain't loveable!) and every dark chunk of human nature you can imagine.

I adore monsters. They don't scare me. They make me grin and say things like, "Aw, that's sweet. Look at those fangs!" It's not my fault. It's probably a psychological defense mechanism.

In fact, if anything scare me, it's psychological horror. The idea that something very real and very scary exists. It worms its way into my head and digs and digs and digs--  

Oooh. That was an actual shiver.

I did something very scary today, something that any author no matter their genre would agree is the scariest part of our life. I hit the "publish" button.

Doesn't sound like a big deal to a lot of people, I know. But it's the build up to the button that makes it a breath-holding moment.

It all started with an email...

Earlier this year, I completed the contract on the third book in one of my trilogies and I asked for my rights back on my series. That was a little scary in itself--this was my first publisher, my first contract. I've been with this press longer than anyone else, and they've been wonderful. However, my ideas and plans for this trilogy were far more complex than a backlist status could muster. I decided to take the reins. Big, scary moment.

The Publishing Feels

The last three months were full of cover designs, formatting for print and ebooks, and the edits--lots of tension when Photoshop or Word decided not to cooperate. As the closer I got to the circled date on my calendar, the more tense and scary things got.

I think I tweaked those files more times in the last 48 hours than I have in 48 days. And when I woke up this morning, and saw that I had no more days to X off on my calendar...

I could almost hear the shrieking violins and the dun-it-dun-it-dun-it and that "Publish Now" button just seemed to pulse under my hovering finger.

What if I made a mistake? What if Kindle doofs up my files and my reviews don't transfer? What if the new covers aren't as great as people assured me they were (and I asked everyone. Even complete strangers. A/B testing should never be reserved for only the nearest and dearest.)

WHAT IF? WHAT IF? WHAT IF?

I ask that question all the time. I'm a spec fic writer so it's kind of an occupational hazard. So, I did the logical thing. I put myself out of misery. I hit the LAUNCH button.

Hmm. That wasn't so bad, I thought, and went to pour a fresh cup of tea, waiting for my pulse to return to normal...

But it's only until the next scene in this psychological thriller...The Reviewers! *shrieking violins*

Tell me, folks...what is the scariest real life thing you do, the thing that leaves you clutching your chest, gasping for breath, amazed you survived?

Leave a comment and one of you will win something grand.

But for now, it's time to get back to work on my Amazon files. I've got book listings to write! Wish us both luck...

If this is your first time joining us, catch up with this list of the links for the week...
Day One: Intro
Day Two: Author Spotlight and Review, AF Stewart
Day Three: Putting the Ick in Magick

Enter my October Frights giveaway here:

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See who else is playing in the dark...

click on the link below to get hopping!

An InLinkz Link-up

And don't miss the other giveaways you'll find when you click on the October Giveaways tab up above or click here for a handy shortcut :)