Holding My First Book

Janna Qualman is "a freelance and women's fiction writer. She lives in the Midwest with her family, where she finds inspiration in the simplicity of everyday life." I love that last line of Janna's Blogger profile, don't you? I am all about simplicity these days, and I adore knowing that I'm not the only one. Janna's writing has appeared tons of places, including The Kansas City Mother and Child Reunion, The Buzz, The Chick Lit Review, and Joyful Online. She's SOTPing (see Wednesday's post if you don't get that little joke) her way through her second novel. 

Janna's "question" is: Describe what it felt like when you held your first published book in your hands.

Oh, my goodness, words cannot describe... Looking back, all I remember is caressing those books like they were made of pure gold. My kids were asleep when the package was delivered, and my husband and I opened the box and sat on the living room floor for an hour in the middle of all those beautiful dreams come true. We turned the books over and over, studied the print, admired the chapter intros, and read passages to each other. It was utterly and completely surreal.
 
The best part was, my goal had always been to be published by the age of 30. I had won some awards for my poetry and short stories, and been published in the English Journal, but I wanted to be published published. The real deal. And I was. My box of books arrived on Thursday, August 30. My 30th birthday was on October 10.
 
If you'd like to read my original post from that magical day, click here. It captures all my raw emotion from that unforgettable afternoon. :)