I realised I haven’t written anything here for a week. The official reason is that I was busy – the unofficial reason is that I was in a constant state of nervous anxiety and couldn’t concentrate on anything for more than a few seconds at a time.

The reason for the nerves is pictured here: public speaking. I’ve done it before, quite a bit, but it’s always the same. My mind enters this circular mode of thinking, where all I can do is imagine the same scenarios, churn the same stale fears and worries around in my head, over and over and over.

In the end, of course, the launch party was fantastic. The turnout was bigger than I expected – the place was packed. The venue – the Phoenix Artist Club – was ideal. The speech went fine, people clapped, the reading from the book was good, people clapped again. I signed lots of copies, more than I thought I would. And after that I relaxed and just enjoyed the fact that I was publishing my first novel, and that I had a lot of friends and family to celebrate with me and be happy for me.

There’s a good description on the Legend Press website, and more photos available here.