The Final Steps of Publication

Yesterday started out like any other Thursday.  Well, except my house was clean. Really quite clean. That is an anomaly, I assure you. Yes. As much as I wish I'd been born with the neat gene, the clutter free, the clean as you go so things are never messy gene. I'm afraid I was not.

I digress. My day. So I spent the morning doing some blog interviews. Refreshed my email 1.2 billion times in a span of two or three hours.  I worked on Instinct and then eventually forced myself upstairs and (kicking it old school like) put in a DVD of Billy Blanks and punched and kicked at the air like a possessed woman.

And then. The doorbell rang.  I peered outside the upstairs window and saw this.

My heart pitter pattered as I hurried down the stairs to the front door. Sweaty and smelly, (thanks to Mr. Billy Blank) and holding a barking chihuahua in my arm. *Bruce likes to bark*

Anyhow, the  Fed Ex man is holding a big cardboard box and pretending not to be offended at the sight of me. I peer at the box and see I'm Not Her printed on the label.

I held in a squee while I signed the electronic thingy ma jig the Fed Ex dude handed me. And then as soon as he left, I sliced the box open. Just as I suspected, inside the were books. Beautiful, beautiful books!

The final copy looks thicker than the ARC and the pages smell delicious. I sniffed just to make sure. When I open the cover of the book, I spot the dedication.

It thrills me a little bit.

And then I thumb through the pages and see something else that makes me squeal like a little girl at a Justin Beiber concert.






An excerpt from IF I TELL at the back of the book. I read it and think,  hey, that sounds pretty good! (I hope that thought lasts)



Of course, then life called and I had to rush to shower and pick up the son and take him to swimming and do this and do that. But for a moment there I really felt one of the most wonderful feelings ever. Seeing the book you've worked so hard on come to life for the first time. It's truly a blessing.

I log onto twitter (which I also refresh 1.2 billion times a day) and someone tells me I'm Not Her is in Stock at Amazon. (I'd received a note earlier in the day that the copy I had ordered for someone is shipping April 17, so I assume that's what she meant.) but I go to the page and see this!

AMAZON shows I'm Not Her in STOCK!

And so the ride to publication accelerates!
Book signings are coming. Author talks. It's becoming real.  And it's been quite a journey!

I remember to thank my lucky stars.