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I've never been an expert at knowing when it's time to move on. A quick review of past romances shows that I have remained on relationship trains to nowhere for far longer than I should.

Now, I'm at a crossroads in another relationship--the one with my first book, The Message: 100 Life Lessons From Hip-Hop's Greatest Songs. See my book and I have been passionate lovers since way before its October 2007 release. I mean, I was praying for it to come into my life, before I even made its acquaintance.

And now after expending hundreds of hours of energy and thousands of dollars promoting my baby, making it my life's #1 priority, I'm wondering if it's time to move on.

I have to admit this pressure to make such a drastic decision is more external than internal. Isn't that usually the case? 

Some, let's call them "haters," say that I'm foolish for putting all my eggs into one basket instead of playing the field. You did what for your book? And what did it do for you in return?

Then there's the media folk who tell me that my book is old news--like nine months is way too long to court something in the ephemeral times we live in. If we haven't sealed the bestseller deal yet, it may never happen, and I should probably move on to bigger and better things.

Then there are those who make it seem like I'm the problem--like it's my fault that my relationship with my book hasn't gone to the next level. "You're not doing enough," they say. But they don't know what goes on behind closed doors. They don't know about the endless promotion, all the traveling, the tons of outreach. They don't know how I've tried to switch things up--you know add a little spice by going beyond the usual, run-of-the-mill book promotion. All they see is that my book and I are not on the bestseller list and without the title, our relationship is somehow not valid.

What about all the good times? The wonderful "Talk of the Nation" interview? The USA Today feature? Meeting young boys who told me they didn't read, but they read my book? All the schools who have found value in The Message as a teaching tool? Should I just sweep these memories under the rug and act like they didn't mean anything?

I'm not saying that there's another. That if I were to move on, I'd quickly have a new love. Even while I work on my novel, I know that no book will ever be capable of taking the place of The Message. It was my first after all. And as a result, we shared many firsts together--a book signing, launch party, bookstore sighting, radio interview. The list goes on.  

Not everything happens overnight is what I try to tell them and myself. Some relationships take more time to grow and develop. There are still millions of people who have yet to meet my book. Who have yet to judge for themselves what they think about it and whether or not it's worth of their attention. And I know that most of these people don't care how long my book and I have been going out, they're more concerned with whether we speak to them.

That's how I have to continue to look at things. I have to remember the vows I made. I promised that I would push my book until I couldn't push anymore. Yeah I've run out of money, and am a little low on energy. But I'm still capable and that's all that really matters. Love conquers all, right?

I can't care what people say. They will always judge, and may continue to make snide comments when I tell them that The Message didn't come out yesterday.

I love my book through the good times and the bad times. It's not perfect, because none are, but my book is damn good.

How can I move on so soon? It still brings me joy each and every time my book and I find a new reader.  We are made for one each other and I'm committed to taking our relationship to the next level--whatever that may be.

Sidenote: If you want to see pictures of me and The Message together, visit www.feliciapride.com. Or if you want to support our relationship, we're available at bookstores (if your local bookstore doesn't stock it, you can ask them to order it) and at online retailers.