Tomorrow is a day that I have longed for all of my life. A day that I have strived for since the first time I put a pen to a piece of paper. A day that will bring my writing into the public mainstream for the very first time – and a day that could be an absolute success – or a complete train wreck.

Tomorrow is my book signing. And despite the fact that I have invited countless friends, family, co-workers, strangers, colleagues, acquaintances – and anyone else I could think of – I will not know how successful the day will be until it is over. Truth be told, there are times that I was invited somewhere on a Saturday and promised to go – but never made it for a number of different reasons. So my concern is that what if almost all of the people I invited tomorrow do not come?

The publication of my first book is the equivalent of an artist releasing their first album, or a painter debuting his first gallery of works. For what I am doing is taking the words I have written and the pictures I took, and offering it to the public at a price for the very first time – and therein lies my fear. Sure I have a belief in myself and my writing and I have gotten nothing but positive feedback on the book – but I have never expected payment for my writing before – but as with anyone who takes the next step – that is what I have done – and tomorrow is the day I find out if the mainstream public feels that my writing is worth purchasing.

While I am concerned, because I do not want to get myself overly optimistic, I am still and will always be proud of the fact that I published a book no matter what happens tomorrow. When I first started writing this column and it began to achieve some notoriety, I always wondered if the column would ever become successful enough to warrant its own book – and thanks be to God – it did. And now that the book is published – the real work begins of seeing if my writing is worthy of the same notoriety at a price as it was at no cost.

Even now, sitting here at my desk at the TLC, I am aching over the fact that this week has gone by so slow, because the only thing on my mind is getting to the booksigning and getting it over with, no matter what the outcome. In fact, I have been stressing over the booksigning so much that I wound up in the hospital with a pretty severe stomach virus because I have been so worried about the potential success or failure of the booksigning – that I let it effect me physically.

And now, with twenty-four hours until the most successful – or most unsuccessful day of my life – I am anxious, I am nervous, I am cautiously optimistic…

…and I am ready for whatever lies ahead.