Acknowledge This

So I started writing up my acknowledgments while I was in the doctor’s office Tuesday.I always sort of suck at these because I tend to want to thank anyone I talked to during the writing process. Writing books is so much more than just putting words down on the page – I mean, sure, you obviously want to thank your beta readers and your editor and all that but for me there is always so much more going on.

Half the time it isn’t even about the writing so much as the people I talk to who help keep me going. (Even if we’re not talking about writing at all.) Hell, there are days when I want to thank my iPod for playing good music. (Which probably seems a little odd. And speaking of which – I’m over at Word Whores today talking about my music obsession as well…)

The writing of this book was different than the first in many ways. The first book, I was partially writing for myself and it was a labor of love.  I had no expectations and neither did anyone else – I was blessed with having readers and friends who were determined to help me make it the best story I could.

This time around things were far more hectic. I had so much going on with the release of BoD and then trying to rework what I’d already had written for SoS. I had a huge kerfuffle that involved me losing my agent and my editor and getting new ones, and some parts of that continue to be very rocky. (And believe me, it’s hard enough to sort through the doubts and misconceptions sometimes when you *do* have people in your corner. It’s beyond awful when you don’t.)

The last few months have been harder for me on several levels. I’ve withdrawn quite a bit from my old online haunts and from the people I used to chat with every day. I can’t list a specific reason for it. Maybe I just needed to sort through things on my own without the added pressure of feeling like a failure. (That first draft of SoS really wasn’t that great. I knew it, my betas knew it and honestly, I no longer *wanted* them to read it until I could fix it.) Maybe I just wanted to reorganize my priorities. I don’t know.

In either case, I’m slowly getting my head back on straight, but I really did want to mention just how grateful I am for everyone I interact with. I can’t thank each person directly, but their influence is in the words on the page. It may not be obvious, but I know it’s there – and that makes all the difference to me.