How Mindfulness Can Help You Enjoy Your Book Release Day

By Sweta Vikram

Sweta Srivastava Vikram

Sweta Srivastava Vikram

It’s 5 am on Saturday, April 7. My head is ready to explode. I am supposed to speak at a wellness conference in Pennsylvania in a few hours and on Tuesday, April 10, my debut U.S. novel, “Louisiana Catch,” comes out. That very evening, I am doing an intimate wine and reading celebration with a fellow author at Bluestockings bookstore in downtown Manhattan.

Louisiana Catch is my 12th book. The book is about Ahana, a 33-year-old grieving daughter and sexual abuse survivor from New Delhi who must summon the courage to run a feminist conference in New Orleans, trust a man she meets over the Internet, and unravel the mystery of an online predator in order to find her power. It wasn’t an easy book to write. Though the book’s release happens to coincide with the #MeToo movement and the media attention has been heart-warming, none of it has been a cake walk.

To an outsider, this is all good stress, right? What you dreamed about. What you worked towards. But, you know within—that the creative life is a gift, but it is also full of ups and downs. Exhilarating and nerve-wracking in the same breath. Of course, then there are elements outside of our control. How will our book be welcomed into the world? Will anyone read it? What if no one shows up to the book launch events? The list of anxiety triggers can be endless.   ….Read the rest of the story….

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.