First, a little celebration music…

That’s better! Now, you may be wondering, why September 12th? Why this late hour? Why submit my book for official US Copyright at all?

September 12th is my parent’s wedding anniversary. September is also a month I consistently dread every year. Every challenge I’ve ever faced in life seems to take place during the month of September. If you know me, maybe you’ve heard me talk about ‘reclaiming’ things. Experiences, dates, music, etc. Things I associate with rough times or bad experiences, I’ve been working very hard to rewrite whenever possible. So, I chose this date not only to honor my parent’s wedding and marriage but to reclaim the month of September as a time of happiness and growth.

I’m doing this late because both my mom and I work throughout the day. She leaves early and I don’t get in until late, and I really wanted her to be here when I pushed the submit button. The amount of support I’ve received during the writing of this book has been amazing, but there’s no denying that my mom has been here from the very beginning. When I told her what I was writing, she encouraged me. When I said I needed a proper desk, she found one at a garage sale. When I had my first draft printed, she had a surprise celebratory spread waiting for us to share when I got home. When I decided I needed a new laptop, she enthusiastically came with me when I purchased it. On this very new, very scary adventure, nothing compares to the support she’s shown me.

Finally, why submit for official copyright at all? Technically, from the moment you write your book, it’s copyrighted to you. But guys…this is my first book. I’m self-publishing it and all best-practice advice points to this as a step you should take on the journey to publication. At $35, it’s the cheapest of the steps too. It’s probably for nothing, but if there’s even the slightest chance that it opens doors or provides protections for my book, I don’t see the point in skipping it. That’s just me.

I’d like to take a moment to thank you all, family, friends, co-workers, followers, etc. There’s still much to be done and a while before I release this book into the world, but getting it here has meant a lot of time, money, and work. Any and every little encouragement has meant the absolute world to me.

Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’m either going to go celebrate a little with some goodies from my favorite band OR I’m going to go hopefully get the first good night’s sleep I’ve had in a while. Cheers!

***Note: I am going to take a small hiatus until October from posting. I’ve been pedal-to-the-metal, go-go-go for weeks and I need to take a break and recharge myself before NaNoWriMo.***