That’s my picture, right there on the sign. My book is on the shelves and I’m featured on a sign and holy tamales is it still so surreal to me.

I told a friend the other day that authors have their own little corner on immortality. Now and forever, I have a book in print. Whether it fails or flies or falls somewhere in between, it’s been published by a publisher, has a library of Congress number, and somewhere, someone read it and said, “Oh, I love this book.”

And I get to see my name up on signs and out on social media and most importantly, on the cover of that book, and the validation is a wondrous, wondrous thing.

I am so very grateful for it all. And believe me when I tell you I don’t take it for granted for a moment. You’re only as good as your last book, they say, and it’s my job to make very sure this book and all the books that follow it aren’t my last book.

I gotta go write. And I’ll be sipping my tea with a dollop of gratitude.