My friends,

I am sitting cross-legged on the floor with my laptop. My dog is lounged on the couch. I could move her, but she's made a nest of blankets and she's snoring. She's too cute to disturb.

I've been staring at this blank email wondering what words I could write here that could possibly capture all of the feelings I have right now.

There is so much hope tied up in creating books. I hope that I can tell the story that is in my soul. I hope that the story will weather the storms of publication and marketing and get scooped up by those who need it. I hope that the story will be a light for others for years and years.

But hope is a heavy thing. Every time I sit down to write, I carry it on my shoulders. Every time I hand someone my book, it weighs down my arms. It takes effort to keep hoping. To keep believing. Every day I see another creative cut down. Another story criticized. Another dreamer open their eyes and shamble off into the gray. 

It's easier to move with the crowd than to make something new.

I had hopes for Adventure Cats. I had hopes for this campaign. And they felt heavier than ever before. I was trying a new type of story. I was trying a new way of launching a book. I was hoping so damn hard and it felt heavier than ever.

And you believed in this book. In me.

I don't know how to tell you how much that means to me. How your pledges made this book possible, but how they also lightened this burden. How you made creating in this world feel lighter and more possible than ever before.

Thank you.

I am honored by your trust. I am encouraged by your belief. And I do not take either lightly. In the coming days, I'll be finalizing the proof of Adventure Cats and sending it off to printers. I hope to be sending out books by mid-November (paperback and regular hardback). Ebooks should be delivered in the next 2 weeks.

Thank you for joining me on this adventure. May we share many, many more together.

-BECCA