My
first book, When Dashing Met Danger,
was published in 2005. That day was everything I thought it would be. My
then-boyfriend (now husband) took me to dinner, brought me flowers, and
accompanied me to the bookstore to see it on the shelves. My friends and family
called and emailed to congratulate me, and I basically spent the day basking in
the glow of my accomplishment.
My
thirteenth book, If You Give a Rake a
Ruby, released this month, and the experience was a little different. My
husband did take me to dinner, but my three-year-old daughter came along and
whined throughout the meal because we didn’t go to Souper Salad, which is her
favorite restaurant. I didn’t get any congratulatory phone calls from friends
or family, although plenty of readers on Twitter and Facebook sent me “happy
book birthday” messages. We didn’t have Twitter and Facebook back in 2005, but
even if we had, I don’t think anyone but my mom and my BFF would have friended
me!
Oh,
and the biggest difference between my first release and number thirteen is that
I did not do any basking. I did laundry, dishes, cooked, took my daughter to
Transportation Day at her pre-school, and convinced her to watch “Dinosaur
Train” for an hour so I could work on the book due April 1.
What
happened????
I
guess every author reaches this point in their career—the point where everyone
just expects you to have a new book out. It’s still exciting and novel to me,
but to friends and family, it’s a job. And maybe that’s the real thing to
celebrate. Because back when I celebrated the release of my first book, I
wasn’t celebrating the debut of one book, but the debut of what I hoped would
be a career.
That
said, I am excited about If You Give a Rake a Ruby. You can read
an excerpt and find out more information here [shanagalen.com]. I’m giving away a copy of the first book in
the Jewels of the Ton series, When You
Give a Duke a Diamond. Let me know what you celebrated recently or maybe
what celebrations you have coming.
***Shana's winner is TashNZ! Please email totebag@authorsoundrelations.com with your mailing address!***
52 comments:
On March 15th I celebrated my birthday ^^
I just celebrated my daughters 11th birthday. She decided to have some friends (7) and went and had a Build-A-Bear party. The girls all made bears and then got a couple of hotel rooms for the girls and had pizza and cake. Then went swimming and stayed overnight. It was crazy fun. I also found out one of the girls sleep walks and no one knew this. About 3am I heard the door open in the adjoining room. I quickly got up and noticed one of the girls leaving the room. I hurry and got her back inside and asked her what she was doing. She stated that she thought her mom and dad were out there. I let her mom know right away. Scared the crap out of me. Thank god I am a light sleeper. Plus the hotel we stayed at was almost full, lots of people.
Thanks for the chance to win.
christinebails at yahoo dot com
Ooh, Ana! An ides of March baby! :-)
Christine, not sure if that sounds like a celebration or part of a nightmare. Thank goodness you woke up!
I've just celebrated my nephew 3th birthday. A small party because he doesnt like crowded, noisy,or to be attention. He's a very very my little shy guy :D
Celebrations coming up soon is Lao New Years (Apr), The Firework Parade(June) and a mini party in celebrating my bf and I finally meeting! (We've been in a LDR for 3 years) So I can't wait for all these events to get here! & Thank you for the giveaway Shana! :)
I never need a reason to celebrate. My hubby and I went away for 2 nights for Valentines day, a bunch of friends and us went to a local winery on Sunday to celebrate St Pat's Day, for the heck of it and had a great time. Who needs a reason. Congrats and "Happy Birthday"...
Just celebrated #1 son's 51st birthday
(He's getting so old!)on Valentine's Day,
also celebrated the news that #1 grand-
daughter will be graduating from Earlham
College in May! Our next family celebra-
tion will be in April in honor of Honey's
and my 52nd anniversary! After that, the
next birthdays stretch from April through
forever! LOTS OF BIRTHDAYS!!
Pat C.
My husband's bday is coming up! :) Congrats on your book too!
maybe31 at yahoo.com
The only thing that I would celebrate would be my Mom coming home from the hospital. She is 83 years young and that's a big WOW!!
On the 20th of May, my husband and I will celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary! We are planning a special trip! Shana, thank you for giving away "When You Give a Duke a Diamond" the cover is magnifique!!
Mine is the exact opposite. Three is such a fun age for a party!
Wow! Those sound like a lot of fun. Congrats!
Great point. Who needs a reason :-)
Pat, we have all our birthdays grouped together like that too. It always seems to work like that. Congrats on 52 years!
Sounds fun, May. Hope he has a great day.
Glad to hear she's doing better, Sue.
27 years! Wow, Nicole. You deserve a trip!
I try to celebrate a little each day, =) you don´t know what´ll happen tomorrow. Today we (my hubby and i) visited my mom, celebrated with great food, a yummy cake and lots of *huggles*
Tomorrow i´m planning on a glas or two of red *nom*
Thanks for the giveaway & Happy Tuesday!
//Linda
I'm celebrating having my sister visit me. We go to lunch and shop.
Aw... I'm sorry that new releases are a bit old hat now, Shana, but congrats on living the life you dreamed of, complete with new releases and laundry ;) Maybe one of these days you'll also get the version complete with a maid ;p
We recently celebrated DD's 10th birthday--how did that decade race on by? Crazy, how time flies!
Well thank you Shana! merci beaucoup!
Linda, that's so true. I do try to take a moment every day to be thankful.
Love spending time with my sister! We're going shopping next weekend.
So true! My daughter is 3 and a half. How did she get to be a pre-schooler?
Congrats on the new release! Each book is an accomplishment, even if it is work.
I'll be celebrating this summer when I (finally!) graduate with my PhD!!
Congrts on your new book release, Shana.
I will celebrate my birthday on 1 April and I think about doing book giveaway, many books and probably gift card too :D
Congrats on your thirteenth book, Shana!
We'll be celebrating our 39th anniversary in April.
kscathyATyahooDOTcom
I celebrated my son and his girlfriend getting an apartment and moving out on their own after being "houseguests" for three years. My celebration consisted of cleaning and putting my guest room back to how I wanted it. It felt good to have my house back to myself without all of their "stuff" all over it. :D Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the company, but it's nice to get back to what I consider normal.
Last month, I celebrated my birthday. March 27 my hubby and will celebrate our 32nd wedding anniversary!
mlawson17 at hotmail dot com
Hi Shana. We celebrated my daughter's first "excellence" mark received in High School last week. It's her first year so it's a nice way to start :)
We celebrated my Mother's birthday just recently. The years are adding up, so each one is such a blessing.
Yay, Kimberly! What an accomplishment!
What a fun way to celebrate your birthday!
Cathy! 39 years is quite an accomplishment! Congrats!
Barbara, that's a long time for a "guest" to stay. Bet you enjoy having the house to yourself.
Congrats! February and March are exciting months for your family, Martha.
How fabulous! I'm sure it's the start of many more accolades for your daughter.
Definitely, Mary. It's wonderful to have family.
In a few weeks we´ll be celebrating my husband´s 30th B-day. It´s a special age, so I´ve arranged a few things to surprise him.
My husband and I celebrated the birth of first grandbaby (boy) less than 2 months ago.
Stefanie, I still remember my husband's 30th birthday! It was fun to plan.
Mary, how wonderful! Congrats!
We just celebrated the first year (this Month) that my younger sister lost her very special phone (it was her first). Not a very good "celebration". :(
My husband and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary in August.
I love the cover to your book.
Awww! No, that's not a good anniversary, Lory.
Thank you and congrats!
Today, March 22nd) is my daughter's 30th birthday!! Happy Birthday Lara!
March 11th we celebrated the birth of my 33yo niece's first child, Isaac! She had a lot of trouble conceiving due to hypothyroidism.
My daughter's best friend Erin announced her pregnancy. She suffered a miscarriage the last time so we are praying for a successful September birth of her first child.
My youngest son will be getting married May 24th in Virginia. He's only 22!
My middle son will graduate from grad school in August!
Our next family celebration is my new great-nephews baptism - he will be wearing the family christening gown that was made in 1916.
I had a friend's B-day a week ago and it was great!
alinutza4u2004[at]yahoo[dot]co[dot]uk
Hi Shana!
On February 4th we'll be celebrating my husband's 65th birthday! Now you may wonder why I'm so excited about his birthday but it's because he married me, an "older woman" since I turned 65 last November!
Now many may think that since we're actually are birthday's are so close together but he has a habit of often introducing me as his "first wife" or if not as the "old woman" in his life!
No wonder our friends, many of whom are now divorced, can't understand how we've been married so long - in February we celebrated our 43rd anniversary!
Post a Comment