Opening the Door: My ARC Journey Begins
There is something both thrilling and terrifying about this stage of the writing process. My final edits are now with the editor team, and while that alone feels surreal, the next step feels even bigger. I am beginning to prepare my ARC programme, which means inviting early readers into a world that has lived quietly inside my head for so long. It is exciting, but it also makes my stomach twist with nerves in the most unexpected way.
For months, I have been deeply immersed in Queen’s Road, shaping every moment, hearing every breath of the characters, and building a life around a street that feels as familiar to me as my own. It has been my private space, my world to nurture and sculpt. Now, the idea of opening that door and letting other people walk into it fills me with something that feels a little like butterflies and a little like hope.
The ARC stage is special. It is where a story takes its first steps out into the open. It is where readers, hopefully kind and curious ones, begin to see what I have created. They will be the first to feel the atmosphere, the tension, the small human moments that mean so much to me. They will notice things I have never seen, love things I hoped they would, and maybe even challenge me in ways that will help me grow. It is a vulnerable place to stand, but it is also a wonderful one.
Preparing this ARC programme means pulling together everything I have been quietly building: the welcome packs, the posts, the plans, the behind-the-scenes work, and the courage to let strangers read something so personal. I feel genuinely excited to share it, even as that excitement comes with a flutter of nerves. It is the realisation that this story is no longer just mine. It is beginning to belong to readers, too.
I hope they like it. I really do. I hope Queen’s Road feels alive to them, and that the characters move them, unsettle them, or stay with them in the same way they have stayed with me. I hope the heart of the story reaches someone who needs it. And if I am honest, I hope that stepping into this new stage helps me grow braver as an author.
So this is where I am. Waiting, preparing, dreaming a little, and feeling that blend of excitement and vulnerability that always comes when something you love starts to leave your hands. My ARC journey has begun, and I am welcoming it in with open arms and a hopeful heart.
Thank you for being here with me as it all becomes real.
Share this post
Talk about this post on Instagram
