Across Both Sides of the Mirror: Reflection

It’s been about eight months since I published my debut novel. At last, I’ve given it a read post-publication.

I was a little nervous because the book is out. People have read it. People are reading it. People will read it. And though that’s wonderful and exciting, it’s also scary in a way.

I was nervous because of the few typos I’d inevitably come across. I was nervous reading it with hindsight, and thinking about all of the ways the story could have been better. How I could have taken more time to do more edits and make more changes, so the book could be “perfect”. 

Now, I’ve read it. I did catch a few typos. I can see some aspects I could’ve fleshed out a little more. Little tweaks. Some angles I could have explored further…

And sitting here and now, after I’ve put my first novel down, I know for certain that when I’ll read this story again in the future, I’ll see other angles, other tweaks, and even more changes I could’ve made. And the same thing will happen again the next time, and so on.

All of that is inconsequential.

Bottom line is: I wrote the book I wanted to write at the time I wrote it. I still found myself laughing, crying, shaking my head, and smiling while reading it. I love these characters. I love this story. I love this book.

I’m so excited to continue to grow as a writer. I’m excited about my next projects. But I gotta say, I’m immensely proud of the version of me who wrote 𝑨𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝑩𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝑺𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓.

If you haven’t yet, I highly recommend giving it a read (not biased at all 😉)!