I can't believe it's finally here. After six months of planning, plotting, and procrastinating (we all do it), The Purple Door District is finally going to see the light of day. I've already sent a few copies out to ARC readers and to my indiegogo supporters, and the reviews thus far have been great. My favorite has to be:

"Casey caught me hook, line, and sinker and I'm already impatient for the sequel!" -Rebecca Daniels.

At this moment I'm putting the final pieces of the launch together. I dropped books off at Prairie Lights and M and M Bookstore. It's surreal to be handing them a paper copy of my book. My bookmarks at Haunted Bookshop are gone already, and a couple press releases should be appearing in the paper any day now. Everything is headed in the right direction.

On Saturday, December 15th, the book will launch both on amazon and in stores. My first signing is at the North Liberty Community Library where there will be free cookies and pictures with Santa for the kids while parents do last-minute shopping. It's my first chance to sell my books beside other authors, and I can't wait. I've met so many incredible people over this past year, and it'll be such an honor to actually sell my book beside them. If you're in the North Liberty area, stop on by from 10am-1pm. You can find more information here.

Saturday night will be the big event. From 6:30-8:30 pm, I'm holding a signing and reading event at The Makers' Loft in Iowa City. This is a fantastic new business that helps support local indie creators. They've agreed to sell my books there as well because they want to start a book section. People can come get their books, celebrate with dessert, and then listen to a reading at 8 pm. I'm also holding a raffle. Authors Shakyra Dunn, R.C. Davis, Alexandra Penn, Eliza David, and more, will donate their books to the prize pool. You might walk away with more than a couple of gifts!

And speaking of gifts, Marion Mavis, author of The Supremacy Witch, and I are doing a giveaway on Instagram! Go check out our guidelines on how to win signed copies of both of our books!

I really hope to have a great turn out to blog about. You can be sure I'll take pictures, and I'm planning to do a brief live recording as well.

Then, on Sunday, I'll finally face plant my bed and get some rest.

This whole experience has been incredible, but it's also been draining. There have been more than a few times that I've wanted to throw up my hands and toss in the towel. Publishing a book is practically a second job. When I'm not doing my daily work and volunteer positions, I'm usually busy with writing, editing, or marketing. I'll admit I haven't taken quite enough time for myself since the whole process started, but I'm hoping to get some breathing room now that the book is going to be published.

What then, do you ask? What's the future of The Purple Door District?

The answer is twofold. This will not be the only book. I started working on book 2, tentatively named Wolf Pit, and I'm already 50,000 words into it. My hope is that I can publish it in 2019. At the same time, my co-creator and I, AE Kellar, plan to work on our main series to get that ready for publication. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but with The Purple Door District finally taking flight, we think we're ready to crank the work out.

The story doesn't end here, my friends.

The journey is just beginning.