When the afterglow of a new release has faded, there comes the inevitable decision of what to write next. It’s the time when you let go of all the questions and uncertainties of the previous book and begin planning your next. This is a time both exciting and frightening. Can I write another? What if that was my last? What if I have nothing left to tell?

What if this is the one where everyone realizes I’m a phony?

It’s called “imposter syndrome” and we all experience it at least once. Doesn’t matter if you have one published book behind you, or a hundred. I have five, and I feel that pit in my stomach every time.

Even the most experienced best seller, if honest, will admit they’ve felt that inkling of doubt. What can keep us typing might be the friends/readers/fans who repeatedly ask about the next one because they can’t wait. It’s reading the good reviews . . . and sometimes even the bad ones . . . that pokes us in the back to say: “sit down”, “start typing”, “show them you’ve got this”.

Some authors rarely look at their reviews, or refuse to read them at all. I’m one of those who check them fairly regularly. I recently saw that someone put a 3 out of 5-star rating on Amazon for my most recent release. No review, just 3 sad little stars. Instead of telling myself it means nothing, just one person’s opinion, I find myself worrying what it was that made them shave off those 2 stars. Everyone else gave me 5. But that’s just me. Instead, I’ll concentrate on all the good reviews, those readers who have told me in-person how much they enjoyed it.

Time to set aside the research for a while and start writing. “Under The Endless Sky” in 2025.