Good morning!

Vacation happened. It was fun, relaxing, and we didn’t overspend. And my freezer is well stocked with coffee again. LOL.

There’s something odd about being an author. Some of us actively pursue it, while others shy away from it. It’s the idea of authors being celebrities of a sort. Simply telling new acquaintances that you’re a published author shifts their attitude of you. Granted, some will get snarky and say things like they don’t read your genre or you must not be a ‘real’ author since they haven’t heard of you. Others will want to hitch on to your coattails.

The best ones, the ones who bother to get to know you and help you succeed, those are the ones you should cherish. Why? Because they’re not jealous, envious, or wanting something from you. They like you for you. That you have a cool job is sorta like a barista making a super picture in your morning latte. A great way to start the day, but what matters is the drink itself.

It’s easy to get sucked into the myth of being a published author. The idea that we should be able to demand much, be treated like a superstar, get things for free because we wrote a book. That’s when you need the friends who knew you before. The ones who will remind you that you’re a decent person who wrote a book, not some jerk. The ones who want you to be successful because of who you were BEFORE you wrote the book, not BECAUSE you wrote one.

They’re the ones you need with you at a con, remind you to eat or keep you on schedule. And tell you to stop being a diva and remember the readers don’t care how sore your hand is. Their feet hurt much worse after hours in line. And they’re there to see you.

To them, you are a celebrity. Even if you don’t feel like one yourself. Enjoy the ride, by all means! But don’t get so caught up on the highs that you forget how easy it is for your reader base to collapse if you’re a jerk.

Give them a reason to love you, read your work. Make yourself accessible to a point. But don’t start making demands.

BB