It’s 10:45 p.m. CST, November 30, 2023.

In exactly an hour and forty-five minutes, my new book will go on sale in almost every ebook store across the country. That’s in exactly 105 minutes. Count down. And I probably won’t sleep a wink tonight. Too excited. Too nervous. Bouncing off the walls. Worried if anyone will bother to read my book. More worried if they’ll think it’s any good. Twitches in my stomach don’t help, and I really hope there won’t be a need to spend time in the bathroom retching up my nerves. 

Many of you might ask, “Why are you doing this? Why are you getting yourself so worked up?” Yeah, I know. I should be confident … should hold my head up high and walk with an arrogant swagger. 

Guess you would need to know more of my story to appreciate my excitement … need to know how many days and nights I cried in sheer agony over this one important question—Should I be doing this? Am I qualified? Who do I think I am?

It took years to embrace that question, to cuddle next to it and rub noses with it, to snuggle it tight and not feel a strong urge to run. Believing in yourself takes guts. Place anyone else in front of me and I’d give them a slap on the back of the head and tell them to “Snap out of it! You can do this.” But for me and my dreams, “Keep dreaming kid. You can’t afford this. Writing is expensive. This isn’t for you. You won’t last a year in this business.” 

Now, look at me. 

Somewhere along the way I jumped over hurdles that got higher and higher, and if you’ve ever met me, you know I’m not very tall. So, literally crossing a hurdle is quite a feat for me. There were nights I panicked, couldn’t sleep, walked the floors, engaged in fits of rage—all because I wanted to write so bad I couldn’t stand it. 

Now, look at me. 

I don’t have the foggiest idea if anyone will buy my book. And I sure don’t know if they will like it or not. I can better tell you how I feel about that in a day or so. 

For now, I’m rejoicing over that steep mountain I climbed—finishing the book, toughing it out to the end. My hands are scarred, my knees scraped … even my computer is dented at the corner because I almost tossed it out the window once. That’s how much I agonized. I’ve paced the floor long before the birds chirped. 

There’s been days I didn’t sleep at all. The search engine on my computer has a deeply carved trail to Merriam’s Dictionary and Thesaurus, and it knows how to tap dance to Wikipedia. I’ve worn the edges of Sol Stein’s book Stein on Writing completely out. I’ve tried to memorize lines of Shakespeare; read novels by Sandra Brown, C. J. Box, and William Kent Krueger twice, just to capture the nuances of how they created their works of art. I’ve scanned Facebook, studying one user’s question after another in hopes I’d find an answer to my own questions about writing. That’s darn strategic and sounds weird to study a question for an answer, but it’s the truth about what I did. 

I’ve lived off caffeine, morsels of food, dehydrated myself (not on purpose), and gone days without a bath. 

Why? 

My heart craved so badly to write that I gave up the necessities, even for a fraction of a moment, just so I could get one more word onto paper. 

Driven. 

That’s my problem. 

Passionate. 

That’s how much I care. 

Insane. 

That’s how determined I became. 

Why? 

Because life is short, and it’s not every day you get to live out your dream. I woke up one day and realized nothing was holding me back but me. There was absolutely nothing between me and the keyboard. No one with a pistol in their hand. No phones ringing. No children running through the house. No job to rush off to. No doorbells to answer. No class to teach. And I could have my groceries delivered anytime I wanted. 

So, I became a hermit, as I’ve always been. And I stayed in the chair and wrote until my fingers ached. 

I learned the rules of writing, and I’m still learning, then I broke the rules, sparingly. I used almost every software known to man to proof my work, to rid myself of as many passive voices as possible. I smoothed out every line I could find. I restructured more sentences than I can count. Then reviewed my manuscript two dozen times for the sole purpose of changing the wording to make it as purple as ever, whether the naysayers liked it or not. I paid good money for an editor, cringing because I wasn’t sure I could afford to pay her for another pass through my work. 

Why do all this? 

Because I enjoy writing. I love it! 

Because I wanted you, my dear reader, to enjoy the read, hoping that when you’re done with my book that you would slowly exhale as that tiny grin of yours parted your lips and revealed a great big smile of satisfaction. 

Thank you! All of you! 

For following me on my website and putting up with my rambling … for spending time with me to listen to anything I had to say. 

Thank you! All of you!

For allowing me to bore you with my joy and happiness. 

It’s been quite a journey, one that I wouldn’t trade for all of Elon Musk’s money and gold. Believe me when I say this because it’s the honest truth. Money does not buy you happiness. Other than being in the body of Christ, living out your dream is the greatest achievement one can attain. 

I’m happy. 

Exquisitely happy. 

Jumping up and down happy. 

And I haven’t sold a copy of my book yet. 

Isn’t that something!

Donna B. Comeaux

Author and Poet

November 30, 2023

New Novel – Breathe for Me – https://rb.gy/b7fwne

Pre-Sale ALERT!!

https://allauthor.com/images/reviews/gif/22420.gif

Be the first to read my new novel “Breathe for Me.” You have three days, or until midnight November 30th to purchase my novel at a discounted price of $4.99, rather than $6.99.

Just click this link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/presale/1479356

Share this link with friends. Create a small reading group to discuss the book.

Sign-up for my Newsletter. You can unsubscribe any time.

Please be kind enough to write a review.

Enjoy!!

Donna B. Comeaux

On December 1st, I will release my new romantic suspense novel “Breathe for Me” in ebook format. The book will be downloadable onto almost any device, and it will cost $6.99. Click on the link to pre-order the book: https://rb.gy/b7fwne.

If you want to be added to my mailing list to receive the upcoming announcement, please send me your email.

I will update this page in a few weeks with additional information.

Donna