[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI-H-NCSIl0[/youtube]Am I birthing a book or an Author? I guess both, and the arduous odyssey is truly a roller coaster ride. Sometimes the task is so overwhelming, I’m trapped by my computer while my friends and family feel as if I’ve fallen off the planet. I don’t mean to ignore them! I’ve just been sucked into an unfamiliar world that beacons with an alluring whisper like a mermaid’s song that enchants all who hear her, distracting and enticing them enough to walk off a ship’s deck or to run their ship aground. Okay, so I went a little overboard there, but the lure is as real as that imagery. I’m charting unknown territory and it’s exciting, demanding, amazing, exhausting, daunting, thrilling and sometimes downright scary. At times I feel like my brain may just explode, taking in all of the new knowledge I have to learn. It was a wake-up call to discover that writing a book isn’t over when you enter the words, The End; that’s merely when the process begins! In this day and age, the vast majority of a book’s success is in the hands of it’s author. With giant bookstores fading into distant memories, anyone involved with the publication industry faces a choiceto die or be reborn in the world of technologyand those who don’t join the future will be left in the dust of the past. The days are over when an author’s life could focus just on writing. Unless they are famous, like actors or political figures, or they are already well known and established, they now need to be a marketing master, social media guru, publicist, agent, PR genius and a networking wizard. Authors have to promote, publicize and brand themselves which is a pretty daunting task for someone like me, a Pollyanna who spent a lifetime reminding herself she was incapable of pursuing her dreams. It’s just sometimes hard to figure out if I’m more afraid of failure, or success! But I’m trying to tuck all of those insecurities neatly in the past now, and remember that courage is a decision, not an attributeand that’s not always easy! None-the-less, that’s exactly where I find myself, so instead of driving myself crazy and hiding inside my computer, I’ve decided to reach out to my friends, family and internet allies and draw from their strength, knowledge and confidence. I’ll post my trials and tribulations and blog on Facebook, update my status on LinkedIn and tweet away on Twitter as I embark on this new kind of journey. I’m taking a chance that through social media and cyberland, you all can help me laugh, learn and enjoy this amazing roller coaster ride. So hop on and check in daily. Your ticket is waiting here we go!