Thank YOU!

So we are nearly there folks. One month to go, one month to publication day.

I got to thinking, that it might be a good time to stop and say 'Thank You'.

In the acknowledgments for Red Ribbons, my opening words are -

'The creation of a novel is a journey which begins well before the first word is written and continues long after the last full stop. I owe a huge debt of thanks to many people.... '

And these words ring true for me, not just today, or when Red Ribbons is finally published, or ten years from now when hopefully I will have written many others stories - these words have been true from the moment I was introduced to books, to the joy of living in an  imaginary world, and will last hopefully for a very long time to come.

I openly admit that I am nervous, excited, unsure, a mix of so many different emotions, but whether Red Ribbons is a success or not, the journey so far has been a success for me.

I have gotten to know a great many people along the way, some here on this blog, and on Twitter.  I have made some lifelong friends, and the experience has been an emotional roller coaster, with many moments of joy, uncertainty, frustration, laughter, doubt, belief, the list is endless, but what has never been in any doubt, is that the journey has been enriched by all the people who have supported me along the way, thankfully another very long list, and one that I really appreciate.

Some of you who follow this blog might remember a post I did a while back - it was about a friend of mine, the late, Joan O Flynn. My life was enriched for Joan being in it. She will stay with me always, and apart from being an amazing woman, writer, and friend, she had great belief in me.  We all need friends like Joan, people who believe in us even when we doubt ourselves.

So no matter how the next leg in this journey goes, today, and every bit of the journey so far has been an absolute pleasure, and this wouldn't have been the case without you. So THANK YOU.