I will say that one of the greatest moments of my small little writing career was the first time I saw my book on a bookshelf in a bookstore.  Of course, with all of the books I have published, you would think this would have happened a long time ago.  Sadly, it only just happened in 2008. 

I was shopping for my niece's Christmas present at the time, actually.  I have a friend who has been a mom twice over and also runs a daycare center.  If someone knew the kind of books a kid of one would like to read, it was her and I needed her for her advice and counsel.  So, we were in the far western suburbs in a Border's.  As we were getting ready to leave I paused and said, "Hey, I wonder if they have my Chicago crime book on the shelves?"  I wandered over to the shelves that were specifically for the Chicago-themed books.  I scanned the shelves and lo and behold, with the spines facing out, bright red in the harsh lights, was my book. 

There are moments in your life that become etched there forever and some burn brigther than others.  This is one of those for me.  I turned to my friend and held my book in my hand.  I had a huge grin on my face.  She took our her cell phone and took a picture.  That picture is now on my Facebook account.  I said, "I wonder if Stephen King and his family did this when his first book was published."  My friend smiled and said, "I bet he still enjoys is and probably still takes a photo at times."

I have no idea if Stephen King and his family still let him pose with his books on bookshelves or not, but I doubt it is something I will ever really get used to.  I had published a book based on haunted houses in St. Louis and I had heard that it was on shelves in bookstores, but since I live in Chicago I had never had the experience of walking in and seeing my book.  I posted my find on my Facebook account and, before too long, I had friends all over the city and Metro area telling me they found my book at their local Barnes and Noble or Borders.  All in all, it was pretty cool.

Now, of course, it doesn't mean that my book is a bestseller.  Far from it.  The book has sold OK, but it is hardly rocketing up the New York Times Bestseller list.  But when I walk into the Waldenbooks at the Metra train station in downtown Chicago and see the spines of my book on their shelves, well, I still get a charge out of it. 

So, I do wish that for you, fledgling writers out there.  The rush is really as good as you have always imagined.  I hope that I have more of those times in my near future.  I also hope to have the rush of signing a major book deal and seeing my book turned into a movie or TV show.  Still, like so many firsts, there will never be anything quite liek that first time I saw my name on a bookshelf at a bookstore.