Excitement Overload

Once upon a time I dreamt of being an author. I had dreams of writing a wonderful novel that would be published and would have a cover that would astonish everyone and jump off the shelves to the readers, who of course adored my writing.
I grew up and that dream sort of vanished. I kept writing and writing and never had enough courage to submit anything to a publisher.
Finally, I grew into a mature woman. I was no longer afraid of other people's opinions. After all, what could anyone do to me? Make me old? Nah, I was already there. So I submitted.
Lo and behold, I was accepted by Cerridwen Press. I thought I was on cloud nine as I signed the contract. I felt like flying when I did edits - real edits for a real editor. Could anything be better than that? I was arriving.
Then things became commonplace. I was a writer. I wrote and read and continued waiting for the elusive cover art. You see, most readers choose a book by the cover art. I am no different. I go into a book store or to an online store and look at covers. Pretty ones, Hot ones, Curious ones, Intriguing ones. All the covers in the world. And since I was a writer with a book coming out in August, my book would have a cover. Naturally. It was simply a matter of course.
Not really. I just recieved my cover. I am so excited that I am trembling. My heart is pattering so much I can hear my pulse in my ears. I can't believe I am so excited by a picture.
But you know what? That picture represents all my hard work (yes writing is hard work) all my dreams and aspirations. That picture represents the characters that lived in my imagination and can live in the reader's imaginations as well. The picture on a cover of a book is the culmination of every author's dreams of, no not success, not wealth, of acceptance of who and what they are.
Writers are a funny bunch. They live in their imaginations. They tend to be solitary - after all you can't write while riding a roller coaster. They also tend to live life to the fullest - they need fuel for their stories. The one thing they rarely have is acceptance. Non-writers can't seem to understand where all that story comes from. One of the first questions a writer is asked by a non-writer is "Where do you get your ideas?"
Being published and having a cover give us approval - it shouts out loud "We are Writers and we have been accepted."
Well, I am a Writer! I have a cover! I am jumping up and down and trembling and can't type for a lick. I must have written this ten times since my fingers are shaking so much. I can't add the cover to the blog just yet. It has to go through approval. But I have my approval and I am just overwhelmed with excitement.
Prophecy of Vithan comes out in August published by CerridwenPress.com. The story will thrill you. The cover will knock your socks off. It did mine. The artist of the cover art is Philip Fuller. You can see his work at philipfuller.com