Perfection

Happy Wednesday, friends!

As usual, there’s a lot going on.  I’m beta-reading my friend Paula’s new book, which always takes longer than actual reading because I’m trying my best to catch things and make comments.  I can’t just zip through like I usually do.  I’m also preparing for my first book event of the season this Saturday!  I’ll be participating again in the North Texas Book Festival in Denton!  I’m really excited about it.  I just loved the Festival last year and I met so many amazing people.

For the occasion, I designed and ordered some brand new bookmarks to hand out to readers.

I’m also still hard at work on Worldwide, which I’m really loving.  I think it’s going to be my favorite book in the Boy Band series.  I’m hoping to have it out early summer.  I’m also working on a new project.  I love my series, but I also want to branch out.  I have so many stories and characters in my head.  I wish I had eight arms.  Then I could work on four stories at a time instead of just one.

I saw a post on Facebook the other day.  It was in one of the writer groups that I’ve joined over the years.  The writer claimed that they wanted to write, wanted to publish a book and become an author, but they never finished a manuscript because it was never good enough.  They wanted their work to be perfect.  This is very understandable.  But I think it can also be very detrimental.

Allow me to explain.  I’m not saying you should publish a mediocre manuscript.  Never.  Your book should always be the very best that it can be.  You should always be happy with it.  But you should never let a fear that it won’t be good enough or that it won’t be perfect hold you back.  There is no such thing as perfect.

I’ve also heard of aspiring authors worrying that no one will read their work, or that no one will like it, or that it won’t sell.  My question to them is so what?  Write what you love.  Write what you enjoy.  Write a book that you would want to read.  Of course, as an author you desperately want people to read and enjoy your books, but write the story that you want to write for you.  Don’t worry about what other people might think.  If you write what you love, with genuine joy and passion, then others will love it too, because they’ll be able so feel that same joy and passion when they read your story.

Don’t worry about achieving perfection.  It will come to you.