Secret is out

Announcing my book publication was one of the most memorable days of my life.

The whole family was together for Christmas, including my mom, dad, two sisters, two brother-in-laws, and their kids. My mom was on the floor, and I sat down in the couch near her.

“I have present for you,” I said. “Well, not a present, but a surprise.”

“What is it, honey?” She was surprised because I usually never acted like that. 'Surprises' weren't in my vocabulary.

“As of a few days ago, I became a self-published author. I wrote a book, and I dedicated it to your sister, Jacque.”

Her mouth fell open in shock. “Oh, honey! When did you write it?!”

“Over the past year,” I said, trying to keep back the tears (it had been a stressful few weeks).

Then the rest of the family overheard.

“What?”

“What happened?”

“She wrote a book!” my sister announced.

“What? She wrote a book?”

I started to cry, and my mom came over to hug me.

“I hope you’re proud,” I said, laughing. “Writing those 80 thousand words was the hardest thing I've ever done.”

“Oh, ouch!”

My family quieted down slightly, so I said, “And overnight it rose to the top 10 bestselling free ebooks in its genre. It has been out for 4 days, so there has only been several thousand downloads.”

“Only several thousand?!?”

It was all a blur after that as I tried to explain how, when, and why I had started writing.
Most importantly, I admitted that the novel was far from perfect, but it would hopefully be the first of many. :)