I’ve talked a lot about vampires lately, so for those blog-hoppers who are unfamiliar with my novels, you might assume I write about the undead. Would it surprise you if I told you I didn’t? Well, it’s true. As much as I enjoy reading about vampires, I don’t write about them at all.

So what do I write about? Well, lots of stuff really, but the focus of my existence lately seems to be on my young adult series. To be honest, I had a difficult time picking a genre for The Claiming Words. There are distinct paranormal elements—magic, witches, and demons, but the series isn’t particularly dark or gothic, so neither Paranormal nor Urban Fantasy seemed like good labels. There’s also a strong romantic storyline running through the series as a whole, but since the romantic relationships are not the central theme, I couldn’t label the series Paranormal Romance.

I finally settled on Fantasy by default. That genre seems to be a catch-all for everything cool, unique, or fantastical. At first, I didn’t want to label myself a fantasy writer. All the greats are fantasy writers, so how could I possibly try to link myself with Tolkien, Terry Goodkind, or Tad Williams? Am I really cool enough to call myself a Fantasy Writer? No, but my book is awesome enough to be labeled Fantasy.

My book is AWESOME. That’s right. I said it.

It’s hard to toot my own horn, so to speak. I’m not a braggart. (Well, not until today.) As a matter of fact, I barely talk about The Claiming Words. Most of the people at my dreaded day job don’t even know I have a book being published in August. It’s not that I don’t think my book is the coolest thing ever (because it totally is), but I just have a hard time taking the spotlight.

Can’t I just shove my book into the spotlight and then duck out of the way? Sure, but only if I want to sell a few books to the people who already know me. If I want to bring my books to a larger portion of the population, I’m going to have to put myself out there in a way I don’t feel comfortable doing. I’m going to have to reach beyond the comfort zone of my online family.

Is this something I have to do? No. I can live the rest of my life afraid of what people might think of me. I can hide behind the internet and only half-ass market my book. I can back down from what I believe in when I feel uncomfortable or out of place. The choice is mine.

Or, I can shout “MY BOOK IS AWESOME” from the highest mountain and try to convince as many people as possible that my work is worth an investment of their time and money. I can take a risk. I can strive for something better than mediocrity in my life.

From now on, you can expect more than just vampire dating tips and zombie book reviews when you read my blog, although those subjects will still pop up from time to time. Expect to hear about my book. Because my book is AWESOME. And, I’m here to tell you about it.