International Editions & Reflections

Today was an international day.

I received some German editions of one of my Silhouette Desire books - Craving Beauty. These international edition author copies appear without warning, so it's always fun to open the box and see what's inside.

Also, as an aside, while shirt dude is very nice, I still ADORE the original cover. It was an unusual cover for a Silhouette novel when it was first published, and I think it's stood the test of time.

I'd have this as a poster on my office wall if I could. (I actually do have a poster of one of my original Desire covers: Awaken the Senses. I think I purloined it from a conference when no one was looking ;-)).

So the German editions arrived before lunch, then later in the day, I instagrammed this post of the new Turkish hardcover edition of Angels' Blood. Isn't it pretty?! I can't wait to get my author copies so I can pet it and ooh and aah over it.

And, just now, I answered a question for a reader who was asking about the Italian edition of Archangel's Blade. If you're curious to see the other international covers for Dmitri and Honor's book, follow the link, then open the Other Editions tab.

I also had to find the French cover of the recent release of Heart of Obsidian, for the website.

As I was doing that last, it suddenly struck me just how incredible it is that I have readers around the world. It's a surreal, beautiful, wonderful thing that just hit me hard in the heart and brought me near to tears.

I could never have imagined this when I was a struggling writer getting rejection after rejection. Back then, the idea of seeing Nalini Singh on a book cover was just a crazy dream. The reality was letter after letter saying my manuscript wasn't what the publisher was looking for. Self-publishing wasn't even a gleam in anyone's eye, so that wasn't an option.

The rejections broke my heart, but I never considered stopping. Writing is as much a part of me as breathing. Cut me and you'll see words pouring out along with my blood. And you all know I plan to keel over the keyboard - one day far in the future, when I'm a cheerfully wizened old lady.

So to all of you who have your own crazy dreams - don't ever give up. You never know what the next day, the next door will bring. Fight for your joy.

And to my readers: thank you. Without you, none of this would be possible. I wish I could hug each and every one of you.