J. R. Nova

Today I published my first novel. Today I am officially a starving artist.

You can find my novel, Rising, here on Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145701

And here on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Rising-The-Czar-Chronicles-ebook

Now, I'm not starving and this isn't my first novel. It is the longest thing I've ever published, and if it doesn't sell I could some day starve. Maybe. Being a bohemian is a wonderful lifestyle, but starving, not so much.

This is, if I can remember correctly (and I cannot), my fifth novel-length work. It's the first one I've had the guts to publish. But then maybe it's not guts we're talking about, but just old fashioned don't care.

That's what it really took in the end. I had to shelve my perfectionism. There wasn't anything I was dissatisfied with by the time I got to draft #5, but I could have waited. I could have taken three months and let my eyes rest, then go over it again with a fine-toothed comb.

Instead I decided to jump in head first, daring the water to be two feet deep. After the slog of editing I've done, I can't say that I care anymore. If it flops, if it succeeds, if I write another one, if I don't.

I will write the sequel, and both books will succeed, eventually. In fact, this one has already succeeded, because my only goal was to publish it. Selling it isn't on my radar right now, and I'll certainly write better books in years and decades to come, assuming I'm still alive and able to think clearly enough and have the function of my fingers.

I'm glad this is over now. I'm glad I can go back to writing at a snail's pace, taking my time, doing things right. I don't need to pressure myself this hard for a long time, and I won't. I'll get things done, slowly, and in the years to come I'll amass quite a collection of pulp fiction for your enjoyment.

It's certainly a joy to write this stuff.