Today, we have a very special guest, one of my dear friends, Cheryl Wyatt, aka Squirl. I am so thrilled and honored to be a part of her blog tour for her very first book, A Soldier's promise. She's been a great friend, but rather than share all the embarrassing stories and pictures I have of her, I'll be nice and let her do the talking...

Leave a comment and I'll draw a name for one very lucky person to win a copy of her book.

THINGS I WISH I KNEW BEFORE I SOLD


*THAT MY CHILDREN WOULD EXCHANGE SIBLING RIVALRY FOR CYBER-RIVALRY
*HUSBANDS DON'T BELIEVE YOU WHEN YOU TELL THEM EVERY NEWLY CONTRACTED WRITER HIRES A MAID
*ICKY, FUZZY GREEN MOLD STILL GROWS ON UNWASHED DISHES THAT DON'T CARE THAT YOU CAN'T COME NEAR THE SINK DUE TO DEADLINES
*NEVER PUT A FLASH DRIVE ON OR NEAR A SPEAKER THAT HOUSES POWERFUL MAGNETS INSIDE
*GELLING OF A STORY FOR THREE YEARS BEOMES A LOST CONFIDENCE-VICE
*SUCH JOY WOULD COME FROM OTHERS' OVERWHELMING EXCITEMENT OVER MY REALIZED DREAM, EVEN IF THEIR OWN DREAMS REMAIN IN WAITING.

I HAD BEEN MORE PROFICIENT IN KNOWING BASIC HTML AND WEBSITE UPKEEP

*WHAT A RUSH THAT PHONE CALL WOULD BE AND WHAT AN OUTRAGEOUSLY EXCITING RIDE IT WOULD SET ME ON
*I WOULD HAVE KNOWN TO COMPLETELY CLEAR MY CALENDAR THE MONTH OR TWO BEFORE MY DEBUT NOVEL'S RELEASE
*SOME PEOPLE WOULD TREAT ME DIFFERENTLY BUT NOT NECESSARILY IN A BAD WAY. THERE'S MORE RESPECT, WHY I'M NOT SURE BECAUSE I'M STILL THE SAME SILLY, GOOFY ME
*HOW EASY GALLEYS WOULD BE BUT HOW SHORT THE AMOUNT OF TIME YOU HAVE TO DO THEM AND TURN THEM BACK IN. LOL!

I WOULD STILL HAVE TIMES, LOTS OF TIMES OF SELF-DOUBT

*KIDS+RED SLUSHIE IN CLOSE PROXIMITY+WHITE LAPTOP KEYBOARD=ALWAYS SPELLS DISASTER
*NO ONE BELIEVES AUTHORS HAVE TO BUY THEIR OWN BOOKS BEYOND THEIR FREE AUTHOR COPIES
*EVERYONE YOU'VE EVER MET WHETHER YOU REMEMBER THEM OR NOT WANTS A FREE COPY
*WINDOWS VISTA AND WORD 2007 ISN'T SOMETHING YOU CAN MASTER THE WEEK YOUR BOOK IS DUE

*BE SURE TO MAKE A HARD COPY OR ELECTRONIC COPY OF YOUR MS AS SENT TO YOUR EDITORS BEFORE YOU MAKE A SINGLE CHANGE ACCORDING TO THEIR REVISION NOTES. ONCE YOU MAKE A CHANGE, IT CHANGES THE PAGE AND LINE NUMBERS, WHICH THE EDITORS USE IN THE LATTER HALF OF THEIR LETTER TO DIRECT YOU TO THINGS YOU NEED TO CHANGE, BEEF UP, ADDRESS, FIX OR NIX.
*EVEN BIG, PREVIOUSLY DAUNTING GERMAN SHEPPARD'S SCAMPER AWAY SCARED WHEN YOU STREAK (CLOTHED) DOWN THE STREETS OF YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD SHRIEKING ABOUT YOUR BOOK BEING ON AMAZON
*FEW PEOPLE WILL UNDERSTAND THE TIME COMMITMENT WRITING TAKES
*ONLY ANOTHER WRITER TRULY UNDERSTANDS YOUR EXCITEMENT OVER FINDING THE PERFECT, ACTIVE VERB OR THE PERFECTLY PLACED METAPHOR, OR THAT YOU FINALLY MASTERED MODIFIERS. AND ONLY ANOTHER WRITER CAN APPRECIATE HOW HARD AND LONG YOU WORKED TO GET TO THE PLACE YOU ARE IN YOUR CRAFT BECAUSE THEY KNOW. THEY'RE GRITTING AND GRUNTING THROUGH IT TOO.
*READER LETTERS ARE THE MOST INSPIRING REWARD
*EVERY ASPIRING AUTHOR COMES OUT OF THE WOODWORK TO ASK YOUR ADVICE AND YOU FEEL NEARLY LIKE A FRAUD ANSWERING THEIR QUESTIONS BECAUSE YOU STILL FEEL SO GREEN MOST OF THE TIME.

I WOULD HAVE KNOWN TO ORDER MORE STARBUCKS CARDS AT CHRISTMAS AND TAKE DOWN NAMES OF EVERYONE INVOLVED IN MY BOOK FROM ART, TO MARKETING, TO PROMOTION, TO EDITORIAL ETC. IT IS SUCH A COLLABORATIVE TEAM EFFORT FROM SO MANY PEOPLE AT THE PUBLISHING HOUSE IN GETTING A BOOK SHELF-READY. AND I THINK WHEN AN AUTHOR MISSES A DEADLINE, I IMAGINE IT'S LIKE THAT OLD I LOVE LUCY EPISODE WHERE HER AND BETTY ARE WORKING IN THE CANDY FACTORY AND THEY GET BEHIND SO THEY HAVE TO START CRAMMING PIECES IN THEIR MOUTHS AND EVEN THEIR TOPS. ANYONE REMEMBER THAT? I PRAY I NEVER MISS A DEADLINE.

*SPELLCHECKER WILL CHANGE "MEMORIES ASSAULTED NOLAN AS HE WALKED ALONG THE BRIDGE" TO "MAMMORIES ASSAULTED NOLAN AS HE WALKED ALONG THE BRIDGE" WHEN YOU'RE NOT LOOKING, AND THANK GOODNESS YOU PROOFED THAT THING ONE MORE TIME BEFORE MAILING IT TO YOUR EDITOR AND PROSPECTIVE AGENTS.
*ONLINE CONNECTIONS, BLOGGING, AND DIGITAL MARKETING WOULD BE SO IMPORTANT IN GETTING THE WORD OUT AS EFFECTIVELY AS FOOT-TO-STORE BOOK SIGNINGS
*LITTLE CHILDREN CAN BE ENCOURAGED THAT GOD HAS A DEFINITE PURPOSE FOR THEM AND A PLAN FOR THEIR LIFE AND THAT SOMETIMES HE GIVES US DREAMS EVEN WHEN WE'RE LITTLE. AND WE MAY FORGET BUT HE DOESN'T.
*DAYS AREN'T ADDED TO THE WEEK NOR HOURS TO THE DAY NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU TRY TO CONVINCE GOD YOUR REQUEST IS VALID