When I started this blog, it was after talking with Jim Doty. He basically gave me a tough-love speech, which amounted to, “If you want to be a writer, don’t whine about it. Do the things that writers do.”

It’s exactly what I needed to hear. After talking with him, I came home, set up this blog, and I’ve been keeping at it for the last 10 years. To celebrate, I’m going to try and write a blog post every day of July.

I’m currently at Baycon 2023 in Santa Clara, so these first 4 days of July, I’m going to talk about that.

Today is an especially powerful day, because today represents the realization of a dream, and a whole lot of firsts.

Today is the first time I received a convention badge that marked me as a guest of the convention.

Today is the first time I’ve ever been on a panel.

Today is the first time I’ve ever done a reading at a convention.

Today is the first time I’ve been able to hold a novel, written by me, with my name on the cover. By the way, the book is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.

Today is the first day I’ve ever had a book signing. To my amazement, several people visited me with books freshly purchased from the dealer’s room, just for me to sign them. Several of these people were strangers to me.

Today is the first day I’ve ever signed a book that bore my name on the cover and the spine.

That is so many firsts!

Frequently, I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. I saw myself doing all of these things, living the dream, and it felt like someone else. It felt like I could wake up any moment and have to go back to work.

Imposter Syndrome plagued me several times today, but I managed it relatively well. I saw this more as a celebration of a book I wrote and still happened to love, and that made it easier to be in the moment.

So many friends and acquaintances I’ve made over the years are here. These are people that I have met and grown to know at these conventions. They seem truly happy for me.

In a few minutes, I’m going to go see Michael, and I think we’re going to share some Scotch. It should be safe. I didn’t have to take any hypertension medicine today, and if I have to take some, the pharmacist said it’s safe for me to imbibe a little.

It’s hard for me to describe how blessed I feel right now. There is a short unboxing video that I need to get off of Melissa’s phone and post here. It might show, to some degree, how the joy of the day is overwhelming.

I have more I could say, but I think I’ll close this tonight with the acknowledgements that I wrote in The Repossessed Ghost.

This has been a long time coming. When I started this novel, Obama wasn’t that far into his second term. Most people had cell phones, but they were not quite as ubiquitous as they are today. The world has changed so much that I considered writing a prologue just to establish when this story takes place.

It’s been a long time, and I have a lot of people to thank for helping me see this through. Michael Todd Gallowglas, for example, has always believed in me, even when I had trouble believing in myself. Richard S. Crawford, Andrea Stewart, and several other writers I’ve worked with in critique groups, helped me shape this story into what it is today.

Most especially, I must thank Jennifer L. Carson. She saw something in this story that no one else did, when the novel was still rough and surly. She would not allow me to leave this story to rot in a drawer. Jennifer helped me see a dream come true.

Finally, I need to thank my family, Melissa, Bryanna, and Christopher, for helping me stay grounded and sane.