Books Could Be Birds: Cheryl Low on the Release of Vanity in Dust

Guest Post by Cheryl Low

Vanity in Dust is officially published and I am over the moon!

Being a published author is something I've wanted for as long as I can remember wanting anything more than candy and cartoons. Having finally done it, I know I’d give up all the candy and cartoons in the world for it.

Even with all the work and preparation that went into getting Vanity in Dust ready for today, it didn’t feel entirely real all the time. Little moments drove it home in my heart, like the first time I saw the cover on someone’s Instagram or when the ARC arrived in my mail. Holding my book for the first time was something completely new, something I will probably never experience again. No book will ever be the same as that first one. My hands shook when I held it and I had to laugh because I was afraid if I cried I’d mess up the cover. I actually kept it in a plastic bag because I didn’t want it to get damaged, and was careful not to crease it. Giving it away was harder than it reasonably should have been.

Every now and then, it would hit me that today was coming—that soon my first book would really be published and officially out in the world. I’m surprised how much it feels like letting go, bringing to mind images of rehabilitated wildlife released into nature. I guess books could be birds if a library played the role of nature. That leaves me on the sidelines, holding my breath and hoping things go well because now it’s out of my hands. Letting it go comes with a mix of feelings, but mostly it’s just happy and relieved.

I thought that when I checked this off my list of things to do in life, it would feel like something was finished, but it feels more like something has started. I have a hundred stories I want to tell and Vanity in Dust is the first one into the world.

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Cheryl Low might be an Evil Queen, sipping tea and peeping on everyone from high up in her posh tower—a job she got only after being fired from her gig as Wicked Witch for eating half the gingerbread house.

…Or she might be a relatively mundane human with a love for all things sugary and soap opera slaps.

Find out by following her on social media @cherylwlow or check her webpage, cheryllow.com. The answer might surprise you! But it probably won’t.

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Also available from BarnesandNoble.com, iTunes, Kobo, and the WWP online store.