Like I posted last night, I have copies of Through a Crimson Veil that I've touched, looked at, caressed. Yeah, writers are all weird. And like I said, I don't get to keep these copies, but just seeing them is such a thrill. I said to a friend last night, do you think authors ever become inured to the excitement of opening a box and seeing their story as a book? Because honestly, I can't imagine a day when I'm not buzzed about it.
Of course, now comes the time when I start obsessing about readers and whether or not they'll like it. I'm determined not to torture myself this time. I've removed all the shortcuts to books boards and search engines from my computer. I'm fairly confident that I'm too lazy to take a few extra steps to get to these places. I've removed the feedster search for Crimson Veil from my Bloglines list and I'm going to delete my Google Alert search. I have mentioned that I'm obsessive, right? ;-) Ignorance is bliss and I don't want to see my baby picked apart.
That's exactly what it's like, I think. I don't have kids, but I can imagine if some stranger came up in a mall and said, "Your kid is reasonably attractive, I like his brown hair and the shape of his eyes, but his ears are too big and I don't like that missing tooth when he grins, and what kind of shoes is he wearing? Tennis shoes? No, no, you must put him in hiking boots, then I'd love his clothes." Now imagine that going on for paragraphs as perceived flaws in your child are mentioned and commented on. Now imagine the next person coming up, praising what the first person dissed, and then dissing the items the first person praised. That's what it's like having a book released. Writers are neurotic to begin with, but after a couple of books, we're even worse.
For today, though, I'm just going to enjoy looking at TACV. It's not shipping anywhere yet--I checked first thing this morning--and I can relax and savor the moment. Hurrah!
I crossed two items off my To Do List, and so far, have not received any new items to add. Of course, snail mail hasn't arrived yet either. :-) I redid my list, breaking it into categories. Some of the items were events like book signings or doctors' appointments, so nothing for me to do except show up. I broke that off into a separate listing. Then there are the things I have to write. That makes up a second listing. Then there's everything else.
MN Weather Report: 67 degrees.
