Deep breath. After one more round of edits, my manuscript for Becoming American will be sent off for reviews.

I know we’re told over and over in life not to care about what anyone thinks, BUT I DO! I care all the time and am admittedly a “people-pleaser” to a fault. If someone is rude to me when I smile at them or I can tell they are whispering about me, I WANT TO KNOW WHY!

Why? Because I want to be likeable. I don’t want people to ever feel like I’m a jerk. There’s enough of them out there already.

And especially now, I really care about what others think. I really want readers to get something out of my book. Emotion. Knowledge. Something. And, I want them to like it. Maybe not all of them, but the majority anyway and especially the reviewers if their reviews are going on the back cover! After all, who wants to get a ” this book is total shit” review?

Regardless, I am thrilled for my reviewers! I’ve connected with a handful of authors and organizations and can’t wait for them to share their opinions and thoughts on the book. They’re really the first ones to read it, other than Freddy and the kids (who were almost too brutally honest and made me cut the first few pages of what I thought was beautiful writing…their thoughts? Boring! Too flowery! Boo. They’ve obviously never read Nicholas Sparks).

So, stay tuned for the positive reviews! God knows, I will not be posting any of the ones that are unfavorable!