It is Finished!

I had a beer last night and a couple of glasses of wine to celebrate signing off on the final final final final page proofs of my new / first book—i.e., the point of no return—catching a few minor formatting errors and resisting the urge for any minute-before-midnight tinkering (always a bad idea). The electronic file is off to the printer some time next week... although I still haven't seen the last version of the dustjacket text.

It's a good feeling, although it still all won't seem really real until I have the physical object in my sweaty palms. Bruce Kirkby, the author/adventurer/TV host, wrote a blurb of advance praise for me and had some welcome words about basking in this pre-production moment:

And my only piece of advice, whatever fate holds for the life of this book you are about to birth, always remember how you feel about it - your work - right now. I really, really think that is what counts. Because PR nightmares and unattended signings and mean-spirited reviews can grind you down - which I suppose is fine, you ask for that as an author - but they should never grind down your pride in what you created.

Amen!

My wife has already promised to pre-read any reviews when they come out to try to head off mood swings before they strike. I already know how much I already obsess over a single negative or even just ambivalent word on a teacher evaluation. Someone saying nasty things about my "baby" is going sting that much more...