Submission

No, not that kind of submission! Though this kind is fun in its own way.

I emailed my novella, "Wilder" to Harlequin Nocturne Cravings today. I re-read it about a thousand times, tweaked it, polished it till it shone. And then I hit "send."

It was, honestly, the scariest thing I've done in a long time.

When I hit "send" on the non-fiction work I do, there really isn't anything scary about it. I know. I've done my research, I've followed the guidelines, and I've presented the information my editor wanted. Job well done, time to celebrate with chocolate and coffee.

But this? This is something different. The only similarity is that I sent my best work, just as I would with my "day" job. But there is no sense of "whew. That's done. I rock!" There is the constant wondering: did I go into enough detail about this? Did I repeat myself? Am I going to bore the pants off of the editor who reads it? (God, I hope not!)

Is it good enough?

And that, that right there, is the scariest question of all. Is this, the best I can do at this point in my career, good enough?

All I can do is get back to work on the novel revisions, start the next novella, and try not to obsess. As of today, at least for the next few weeks or so, it is out of my hands.

Deep breaths. Where is the chocolate when I need it?!