In a digital world, writing can sometimes feel like I’m moving ones and zeros in a virtual world where nothing is real. Even when I’ve finished the book and output it into various ebook formats, it still doesn’t feel like I’ve completed my goal until I hold the paperback novel in my hand.

This week I received my proof copy of Lost & Found, the second novel in the Gabby Wells Thriller series. Holding the book in my hand, feeling its weight, flipping through it’s pages, made me feel like I had actually accomplished something. And putting it next to the first novel allowed me to take a moment and imagine the rest of the series unfolding as I had planned.

Holding the books in my hands also fills me with gratitude, because it reminds me of how fortunate I have been in finding the resources required to put these novels together. From my wife, daughter, beta readers, my awesome editor, Cynthia, and my book cover designer, Ares. These wonderful people are critical to the success of this series and I am blessed to have the opportunity to collaborate with them.

Writing is often an isolated experience, where you sit in a room by yourself, prying your inner thoughts from your mind and pouring them onto the page for others to read. That’s why holding my novel for the first time is a wonderful, inspiring experience that, like childbirth, makes the work and sweat getting there worth it.

Now, its time to put the paperback version of Lost & Found down and get back to the world of make believe so I can write the next story.