I’ve always been envious of people who are overnight successes.

You know the ones. One day, no one knows who they are. They’re a nothing, a nobody. They could walk through the streets and never get recognised. Their lives are as plain and dull as the rest of us.

And then, the next day everything changes. Suddenly they’re big. Suddenly they’re famous. Everybody knows who they are. They’re appearing in magazines and on the talk shows. People are gossiping about them beside the watercooler at work. And all of this has happened in the blink of an eye. One minute, nobody, the next minute, superstar.

It seems so easy for these people. There was no effort required at all. They go to bed in the evening, just the same as the rest of us, but when they wake up next morning, they’re very different. They’ve crossed that invisible line between the famous and the rest of us. They’ve departed from the realm of the unknown and entered the dazzling sphere of the superstar. And all in the space of a few hours, between the sun going down one night and coming up again next morning.

How I wish I could be like those people. How I wish I could find the kind of success that they achieve. Which is why I’m not just going to wait until it happens. I have a definite plan to be an overnight success. And what is the secret to that plan? Hard work.

I’ve already started putting it into action. I’ve written and published 12 books. And there are more on the way. Hopefully, the next picture book is very close (more on that soon so stay tuned) and I’m well progressed on the first draft of a new novel. I’ll keep writing and publishing books, writing and publishing books. And hopefully, I’ll get better as I go. I’ll become a faster and leaner writer, and a more effective publisher.

And then, one day, it will happen. One of my books will just take off. I’ll go to bed an unknown and wake up as a star.

As far as the rest of the world knows, I must be an overnight sensation. After all, nobody knew who I was yesterday, but today I’m famous. What other explanation could there be?

Of course, I know the real answer, but I’m not going to tell. After all, I’ve worked long and hard to be an overnight sensation. Why should I give the secret away?