A Sense of Belonging?

I kina think her visitation is more of a warning than a recommendation to write: 15 years ago, I dashed-off a novel like I was some sort of cosmic conduit. In 25 weeks, as if I were A.C. Doyle writing for The Strand Magazine, I had the entire story. People told me stuff like, "I don't mean to gush about your writing, but..," or, “I don’t see how, ever again, anybody could write such a good story.”

At a high-powered writers' conference, I learned the novel needed a "platform." I got a website. I felt compelled to write 325 days/year. Literary Magazines started pubbing my short fictions. Mixed-in, I wrote about 180K words for the pre and sequels for the novel. My 2025 contract with Sterncastle Publishing includes the sequel.

Social Media's driving me now; I can't tell how much promotion is enough. But as a writer, I seem to be a natural and to belong(to writing?) That 15 years ago novel is publicly launching 9/19/26 via Sterncastle Publishing. Because to my mind, the success of that novel, Lostine: An Homage to a Girl, will entirely validate my continued writing, I live with considerable anxiety. 🤪