Something to Talk About

I feel like I've just been through a whirlwind. My hair's a mess and so is the house. Well, I guess the house is usually a mess and as for the hair, I'll get to it later.

Yesterday was crazy. Good crazy. I'm trying to remember what I spent all morning doing, but it wasn't writing and it wasn't very much cleaning. Hmmm. Then, in a flash, the morning was gone and the craziness began.

I hadn't had time to check my e-mails most of the morning, so when I finally sat back down at the computer, there in my inbox was my book. Do you hear the choirs of angels singing?

I looked at the first couple pages and the whole book thing seemed more real than it has this whole time. I love the font for the title. The page that hit me the hardest was the one I didn't write. You know, the page that tells you the copyrights, publisher and a mini-synopsis. That page. That's when it hit me full force. In one month, I'm going to be holding my book in my hands.

So I kept reading. Very excited about the not girly butterflies that grace the chapter headings and breakers. Oh yeah. Perfect.

I haven't read this book since my very last time editing it in, I'm thinking it was October. Back then I was so sick of my book I never wanted to see it again. Call it editor's fever. I edited until I couldn't edit any more.

When I started reading it yesterday, I started reading it like an editor, but then I got sucked in. I lost track of trying to find mistakes and found myself living the story. I couldn't believe how fast everything happens. When I was writing it, it took three or four months just to get half way through, and yesterday I read half the book in a couple hours.

The funny thing was, yesterday was the first time I had ever read the story with my editor brain turned off. It felt more like fun reading, you know, the kind you do with stories that you like to read. I was amazed that my former disdain for the book was completely gone and I fell in love all over again. If you didn't know how psychotic writers were, I'm sorry to be the first one to break it to you. Writing has a lot of love/hate in it. You love it, you hate it, you are a fabulous writer, you suck. It's a cycle. I've been told I'm not the only one who goes through this. For my own sense of well-being, I try to believe it.

I didn't want to stop reading, but it was 5:30 and no one else around here was going to make dinner. We had spaghetti. It took me a whole ten minutes to make. Thanks Ragu! Then my boys and I were off to Barnes and Nobles for Brandon Mull's booksigning.

I was an hour early. I would get a great place in line. Yeah, right. They gave us #116. I found a chair and let my boys wander the store picking out hundreds of dollars worth of books I wasn't going to buy right then. 7:00 came around and they called for numbers 1-25. At 7:20 they called for #10. #10? You've got to be kidding.

A family standing in front of me was trying to do the math. Their number was 248. The dad asked the daughter, what's 248 x 2? "I think I have time to get a hamburger." The girl never did figure out what 248 x 2 was. I was still trying to figure out what 116 x 2 was. That's like 3 and a half hours?

At least I had a chair. My boys spent a lot of time laying on the floor reading.

And then, a face from the past, and I still can't remember her name, comes up to me and hands me her #10. She told me she accidently got two numbers when she came in earlier that day. She didn't know it was one number per family. She was looking all over the store for a familiar face, and mine was the only one she knew. How sweet!

I got in line and was out of there by 7:45. Sweet!!!!

And, just for the record, Brandon Mull is a really nice guy. It wasn't his fault the line was moving so slow. The store manager was allowing for pictures, questions and all sorts of time-consuming things. He told me things would probably change after they figured out how long it would take.

My boys were pumped about the dragon poster. That thing was like gold to them.

Then I came home and sat down at the computer where I stayed until I read every word of my book. I'm so proud of my editor. She did awesome. Everything is exactly how I wanted it. The only things that are different are the things I never did figure out how to fix. You can read my book knowing that I wrote it, and that it's not a product of an editor's point of view.

She did great. I think I have a new best friend. Now I just have to meet her.

And so, now I have butterflies in my stomach as I wait for the cover art. I'll let you know how it goes.