One year. One novella. One dream that finally became real.
On October 16, 2025, I officially became a published author when my debut novella, The Orange Blossom, entered the world.
And now, somehow, we’re celebrating its first birthday.
My bookaversary.
When I look back at the past year, I realize that publishing a book was never just about putting a story on paper. It was about stepping into a version of myself I had imagined for years but hadn’t fully claimed.
I was becoming an author.
And that transformation has taught me far more than I expected.
From an Idea to a Book
Every book begins somewhere.
For me, The Orange Blossom began with a story that wouldn’t leave me alone.
As an educator, cultural consultant, podcaster, and storyteller, I’ve spent much of my career thinking about culture, identity, history, relationships, and the experiences that shape who we become.
But fiction gave me a different kind of freedom.
I could create characters.
I could explore complicated relationships.
I could ask questions without necessarily having to provide all the answers.
And I could tell a story simply because I wanted to tell it.
That was one of the most freeing parts of writing The Orange Blossom.
I wasn’t creating a curriculum.
I wasn’t developing a training.
I wasn’t interviewing a guest.
I was creating a world.
And eventually, that world became a book.
October 16, 2025: Publication Day
There is something incredibly surreal about holding your first book in your hands.
I’ve had my name on presentations, websites, podcasts, business materials, and countless documents throughout my career.
But seeing my name on a book felt different.
This was something I had created.
Something I could physically hold.
Something I could hand to another person and say:
“I wrote this.”
That moment represented years of dreaming, writing, editing, second-guessing, and finally deciding that I was ready to let the story go.
Because that’s another thing I’ve learned about writing:
Eventually, you have to stop editing and start releasing.
You have to decide that the story is ready to leave your hands.
The Part Nobody Talks About: What Happens After Publication
I think it’s easy to imagine that once a book is published, the hardest part is over.
It isn’t.
Publishing was actually the beginning.
Then came the question every author eventually has to answer:
How do I get people to discover my book?
I’ve learned that writing and selling a book are two completely different skills.
Writing requires creativity.
Publishing requires organization.
Marketing requires consistency.
And being an independent author requires you to wear a LOT of hats.
I’ve had to learn about social media marketing, book events, pitching, networking, book clubs, libraries, publicity, reader engagement, and so much more.
I’ve celebrated sales.
I’ve celebrated readers.
I’ve celebrated events.
I’ve also had moments where I wondered whether I was doing enough.
But every time someone told me they had read The Orange Blossom, recommended it to someone, attended an event, invited me to speak, or simply told me that something in the story stayed with them, I remembered why I started.
What One Year as an Author Has Taught Me
1. You don’t have to feel completely ready.
There will always be another thing you could learn.
Another edit you could make.
Another strategy you could try.
Another reason to wait.
At some point, you have to decide that you’re ready enough.
I could have waited another year to publish The Orange Blossom.
I could have convinced myself that I needed a bigger audience.
A literary agent.
A traditional publishing deal.
More experience.
More confidence.
But none of those things would have changed the fact that I had a story I wanted to share.
Sometimes you simply have to begin.
2. Becoming an author requires you to see yourself differently.
For years, I could say:
“I’m an educator.”
“I’m a cultural consultant.”
“I’m a podcaster.”
But saying “I’m an author” felt different.
I had to allow myself to claim that identity.
And that’s something I think applies far beyond writing.
Sometimes we wait for someone else to validate the identity we already earned.
We wait for someone to call us an artist.
A leader.
A writer.
An entrepreneur.
A speaker.
But sometimes the person who needs to give you permission is you.
Publishing The Orange Blossom helped me do that.
3. Your first book doesn’t have to be your final book.
The Orange Blossom is my debut.
It is the beginning of my literary journey—not the end.
Writing this book opened a door for me creatively.
And now I have more stories I want to tell.
More characters I want to explore.
More history I want to uncover.
More complicated human experiences I want to put on the page.
My first book gave me the confidence to imagine the next one.
4. Readers are part of the journey.
One of the most beautiful parts of becoming an author has been realizing that once the book leaves your hands, it becomes part of someone else’s experience.
A reader may connect with a character differently than you expected.
They may interpret a scene differently.
They may see themselves in a story you created.
And that’s the magic of books.
You write alone, but you don’t experience the journey alone.
Every person who has purchased, read, reviewed, recommended, shared, or talked about The Orange Blossom has become part of its story.
And for that, I am incredibly grateful.
A Letter to the Woman Who Published Her First Book
If I could go back to October 2025 and talk to myself on publication day, I would say:
Take a breath.
You don’t have to have everything figured out.
You don’t need to know exactly how many copies you’ll sell.
You don’t need to know where this book will take you.
You don’t need to know what the next five years look like.
Just celebrate.
You did something you once dreamed about.
You wrote a book.
You published it.
You put your story into the world.
And that’s worth celebrating.
So, What’s Next?
I’m not sure I know exactly where this author journey will take me.