It was a long weekend here in Australia and my family and I were down at my husband’s family holiday house in Dromana (on the Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne) enjoying a glorious weekend of clear blue skies and crisp winter air that wasn’t too cold. It had been a lovely weekend, spent doing not much of anything other than relaxing and going for a few drives and walks with my family – a good R&R for us all.

But that changed for a small portion of yesterday. I walked out of the bathroom and got swamped by my sons who hugged me and thanked me and congratulated me. I wasn’t certain what was going on. What were they thanking me for? Having a shower? Had I been smelly and hadn’t even noticed it? But before I could ask, they dragged me into the bedroom where my husband was still in bed holding my iPad wearing the biggest cheshire cat grin on his face.

I looked at him askance and said, “What is going on? What have you done” thinking that he’d bought something for the boys that he knew he shouldn’t (because I’d already said ‘no’) and that was what I was being thanked for. He simply held up my iPad and there, in all it’s lovely glossy glory, was my cover for Killing Me Softly.

“I just downloaded your book,” he says, still grinning.

The boys hugged me again and said ‘thank-you, Mummy.’

“What are they thanking me for?” asked me, still confused. They’re not about to read my book – it’s nowhere near a children’s book.

“For the acknowledgement.” He got up and came over and gave me a kiss. “Thank you for saying that. It was lovely.”

“It was my pleasure,” said me, not a little bemused. I never imagined I would be getting a thank you for saying thank you.

But I got a few more of those yesterday. My mum, when her pre-order landed in her iPad, called and left a message on the mobile, tears in her voice as she said she couldn’t believe she had my book in her hand and that my thank you to her and Dad was just wonderful…she didn’t have the words. And my sister, in her own quirky, black-humoured way, said thanks as well for the mention of her.

It was lovely to see the joy that my acknowledgement of those people who I hold dear and have supported me in so many ways through this long, hard and lonely road (and still long and hard and lonely road), never saying never, even when I thought, in my deepest self, that ‘never’ might be something that was true in regards to this dream of being a published author. Something that was meant as an acknowledgement and thank you to them, came back at me in that lovely circular way life has of expressing itself.

But my original thank yous still, and will forever, stand. I would not have got to this point without the love, support and reality checks of my nearest and dearest. So, thank you all. You are the best family and friends a girl could have.

You can buy Killing Me Softly from Amazon, iBooks and Kobe now – check it out on the Destiny Romance website.

http://www.destinyromance.com/products/9781743482612/killing-me-softly-destiny-romance