Secrets of the First Time

 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Think of something stressful. Just for a moment.  Something stressful that could turn out to be life-changingly wonderful. Maybe—your drivers license test?  Meeting your in-laws for the first time? Day one on a new job?  Sending a child to the first day of school?  You can name so many of them…but at the top of the list has got to be the launch day for your first book.

How many of those have we all shared, dear reds? Our own, and those of  our pals? And the launch of a debut novel, of course, is a one-time singular, unique and tectonic-plate-shifting experience. But no one has ever chronicled the minefields and quicksand and surprises like the amazing Aimee Hix.

Oh, sure, we all saw the photos of the cakes and celebrations, the posters of  her much-lauded WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU and the smiley smiley faces of the author and her cheering colleagues.

But what was it really like, inside that gotta-be-hilarious brain of our dear Aimee?  She’s brave enough to tell all. 

A Day in the Life of a Debut Author 

   by Aimee Hix

Midnight - We say “Yay, it’s launch day” then turn out the light and try to sleep.

12:20AM - Anxiety dream wakes me up.

12:30AM - I am just dropping off back to sleep after fretting that someone is up giving me a horrid review on Amazon when Little Big Dog asks to go out.

Repeat every hour until …

4:30AM - I give up trying to sleep and go down to the family room and watch Murder, She Wrote and listlessly peruse Facebook, bracing for the onslaught of people talking about how much they hate the book. Anxiety is narcissistic and mean - it’s all about how much people hate me.

5:20AM - I realize I need to post something about all the guest blogs I’m doing for the launch. I through something together from my phone and I have to do it three times because I keep screwing it up from nerves.

6:00AM - Alarm goes off. I rush upstairs to find my daughter blearily checking her phone; I take it from her and settle the covers back over her. “School’s canceled.” We’re expecting an ice storm. School cancellation text came in at 5:04AM. I feel guilty that I’m happy she’s missing a third day of school because having her home with me means I can soothe my anxiety with warm hugs. It’s not my proudest moment.

7:00AM - I doze off during Rockford Files and startle awake realizing my husband hasn’t come down yet even though his alarm is supposed to go off at 6:00AM, as well. He’s up and already showering. Despite the ice storm forecasted for the early afternoon, he’s going to work. Something else to worry about besides the crushing failure of my debut novel.

7:05AM - I check Facebook. Dru Ann is up and has already posted the link for A Snowy Day in the Life of Willa Pennington. Her morning calendar message is, “Be bold.” I find a GIF for ‘bold’ and post it feeling anything but. She’s also posted a picture of her Kindle with the full color view of my cover. Like every time I see it, I get a frission - it’s so gorgeous.

7:31AM - Now showered and dressed my husband makes me a cup of coffee just like he does every morning (I can’t make a decent cup of coffee to save my life) and we clink cups as he starts to wish me a happy release day again and I make a face because I’ve been up and worrying for … all the hours. He reassures me that it’s going to be great. I’m already exhausted and the day hasn’t even really started yet.

8:00AM - My husband beads out to work after I admonish him to “be careful”, “watch the weather”, and “get the hell out of there before the icing starts.” We’ve been through an ice storm like this before and it was terribly stressful - he and I were together on the road, traffic crawling, as the weather got worse and our daughter, who was five, was stuck at daycare. My parting shot, “Be amazing.” He replies, “I am … but not as amazing as you are. Happy release day!”

8:32AM - Kate Malmon posts her review on Crimespree Magazine online. I hold my breath. It’s good. It’s great. Holy … oh my … it’s fantastic. “Fantastic new female protagonist. Skillfully teases out the plot. Pacing is perfect.” I finally exhale. The fear starts to lift a little. I post a thank you and share her post with the link.

8:33AM and on - I get a flurry of well wishes. People are sharing my post with the links to all the blogs I’m guesting on for release day. People are telling me they’ve gotten their Kindle copy. Other post pictures of their hard copies. More well-wishes. More shares. My head is spinning with joy and exhaustion. My lovely daughter takes breaks from her studying when she hears me laugh and comes to give me hugs. Those help ground me because I feel light, like I could float away.

8:53AM - Kristopher Zgorski posts the link to his BOLO Books Week of January 7, 2018, sort of mini reviews. And WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU is included. Ack! More stress. My heart’s pounding … he liked it! Yes! “Captivating, suspenseful, welcome addition to the private investigator sub-genre.”

11:00AM - My confidence starts to flounder. I feel overwhelmed. In my head, I’m not responding to comments, likes, or shares fast enough. I fear I’m letting people down, all the people who’ve helped me and supported me along the way and that they’re going to be hurt and think I’m ungrateful. I recognize that voice inside my head and take it to my friend, LynDee. She gets me in a way that I feel safe telling her the Perfect Voice has started in. She hears the Perfect Voice too sometimes. She gives it a gentle but firm talking to. You’re not needed here, you’re not welcome right now. This is a moment for Joy not Fear. I’m calmer when we’re done talking. I forget to tell her that I love her though. She knows.

Noon - I eat cheese puffs and drink a sugar Coke. Most of the light feeling goes away. Clearly my blood sugar was low. I think back. Nothing to eat or drink since coffee at 7:31AM. Yup, blood sugar. I check Facebook again. I’m trying to step away regularly to ground myself but it’s hard. I’m tempted to check Amazon but remember every single person who said not to. That tracking that stuff is unimportant. And do not read any reviews. None. Not the good, not the bad, especially not the bad. Read the reviewers that you trust but not faceless, nameless Amazon people.

1:00PM - I’m crying randomly. I feel like Kristen Bell on Ellen retelling the story about when her husband had a wildlife group bring a sloth to her birthday party. She confessed that if she’s between a three and a seven she’s fine but anything higher or lower and she’s crying. I can totally relate to that. I visualize the Emotion Thermometer. I’m at 1,200. This makes me cry wondering how I’m managing to not cry all the time. Which makes me laugh. My daughter suggests I take a nap.

1:34PM - My phone goes off. My husband is on his way home. Now I can nap and do so for about 90 minutes.

3:00PM-ish - Dru Ann messages me to ask if I’m still on my release high. I am. My husband arrives.

3:10PM - I’ve totally lost the bubble on everything. I’m still checking Facebook.

At some point we eat dinner. I think I had salmon. I spend most of my evening lying on the couch under two blankets clutching a hot water bottle. I’m beyond exhausted. We have celebratory cake. Mine is red velvet cheesecake. We decide against popping the bottle of champagne we bought in favor of the weekend, when we can appreciate it.

8:15PM - The National Championship game is on. My nephew attends Alabama so we root for them. I think I do anyway. I’m maybe not fully awake.

10:00PM - I stumble upstairs and manage to get myself into bed without doing any of the responsible grown up things like wash my face or brush my teeth. I fret about that for a few minutes but then finally stop caring about the right thing and just let myself sink into the mattress. Maybe I’m at a three or a seven. Maybe I’m all out of emotions. I don’t even remember falling asleep. I just am until the alarm goes off Tuesday morning. 

Release day is over. I get to do this all again in 364 days for book two.

I should have recuperated by then.

HANK: Yay, Aimee!  SO let me ask—what do you all do to deter the nerves? Authors, what secrets do you have for launch days? And who has one coming up?  Let us know!  

*****************

About Aimee: 

An inability to pass the sight requirements and a deep aversion to federal prison prevented Aimee from lying on her FBI application so she set her deficient eyes on what most Northern Virginians do for work - the non-law enforcement side of the federal government. 

After twenty years as a federal contractor, she retired and turned to murder. Fictionally, of course. Aimee lives in Virginia enjoying LASIK-corrected eyesight with her family, two dogs, and all her killer thoughts.

Please visit her website at www.aimeehix.com

HANK: And! Here's a wonderful interview with Aimee in THE BIG THRILL! (If I do say so myself...) 

http://www.thebigthrill.org/2017/12/debut-author-spotlight-aimee-hix/

ABOUT WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU

A favor for a friend turns into a murder investigation, drawing apprentice PI Willa Pennington into a labyrinth of lies and deception in the shadows of Washington, D.C.

Willa Pennington thought that becoming a PI would be better than being a cop. She thought she'd never have to make another death notification or don a bulletproof vest again. She thought she could move past the pain of losing her best friend. She thought she'd be safe.

But she couldn't have been more wrong.

Now, agreeing to do a simple favor has brought her to a dead body, a missing person, and a battle of wits with an old friend who has dangerous secrets. If Willa can keep her focus, she could solve the murder, find the missing girl, and figure out if the person she's trusted with her life is the one trying to end it.

Praise:

"One of the best debut efforts I've ever seen. Tight plotting, edge-of-your-seat suspense and a protagonist in PI Willa Pennington you'll want to read about again and again. I couldn't put this book down."―Maggie Barbieri, author of Once Upon a Lie

"A debut that saddles tough-girl noir with the heart of a cozy."―Kirkus Reviews

 "Character work is very strong indeed, introducing us to a protagonist who instantly has a believable and compelling set of relationships, goals, strengths and flaws, as well as a past that matters without ever being turned into a series of 'shocking' revelations. The nascent romance between Willa and someone from her past is satisfying in both its heat and the realistic obstacles faced by two stubborn people who’ve known each other for too long to not be wary around each other. This is a solid beginning to a character and setting that could go on to very good things."―RT Book Reviews

"Hix skillfully teases out the plot throughout the book and adds layers to the story as she goes. The pacing of the book is perfect...Hix introduces last minute plot twists and turns that you don’t see coming. She does a great job of planting seeds of what’s to come, but they are so subtle that you don’t think anything of an offhanded comment at that time. Hix works misdirection into the book like a pro. Aimee Hix is an up and coming author everyone should watch."―Crimespree Magazine