News and Nerves
Hi Friends and Family,
Hope you had a wonderful summer and are settling into your new fall routines! I finished off the last week of summer by taking my kids to the aquarium with my husband, petting jelly fish (the tops), watching my kids’ eyes grow wide as they learned about sharks, and created their own digital reptiles. Guess what else? I also sent out book swag for my Stars Street Team (yay!). If you’re one of my stars, keep a look out for a surprise in the mail!
Hand-selecting items to go into the book swag package was so much fun. I found cute, pink travel tags that I customized, worked with an Etsy artist to create boarding passes, made bookmarks and stickers, and also purchased a fun mix of sparkling stars and sweet as well as silly highland cow stickers. The final addition was Walkers Shortbread. Because who doesn’t love a crispy, buttery cookie? :) But do you know what I wasn’t prepared for? Mailing the packages! I went from UPS to USPS (thanks to the friendly UPS guy who told me I could save money mailing the international packages at USPS), printed postage, filled out custom forms for my international Stars (what a process!), and when it was all said and done, I watched those pink packages get carried off by a smiling mail clerk.
Pink packages ready to be shipped to my Stars Street Team!
The sweetest note and share from a Star!
When I returned to my car, I realized that these wonderful Stars Street Team members will not only have fun book swag to get them ready for an adventure in Scotland, but also that they’ll have digital ARCs of The Stars of Scotland in their hands—and soon! That’s right, ARCs go out mid-September. Woohoo! I’m ecstatic that readers are going to read my book, but I admit, I’ve also been feeling a range of emotions from pure glee to a little imposter syndrome. Is my writing good enough? Am I? Although I’ve published a fun Christmas romcom novella, this is a full-length romance filled with dynamic characters, a complex plot, engaging supporting characters, a gorgeous setting, and more. Sending my book out into the world is like sending a part of myself. I remember being the shy little girl next to my outgoing sister at a new school—will they like me? Will they embrace me? Then, I remind myself: I love writing. I love telling love stories. And, I love making people smile. This is my dream! This is another step toward becoming a full time author.
I’m blessed with supportive family and friends, as well as other author/writer and bookstagrammers who keep cheering me on. If you’re one of them, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.
I hope when you read The Stars of Scotland, you embark on your own adventure, escape for a few hours and find hope, inspiration, and lots of love within the pages.
Until next time, I send you love,
xo
Erica Mae