The actual book!

A carton of books arrived at my home today. My book! SOMETHING MISSING. The honest-to-goodness version of the book, the same that will be found in bookstores in two weeks. As required by my contract with Broadway, the publisher sent twenty-four copies of my novel to do with as I please. What that may be is still unknown, since most of my friends have insisted on making the trip to the bookstore and purchasing one for themselves, but to see and touch the book is just remarkable.

Truly a dream come true.

There have been many of these joyous moments in the process of publishing my first book. Signing on with my agent. The phone call with news of the publisher’s first offer. Signing my book contract. The first time I saw the cover art. The arrival of the review copies. My first review. The first check from the publisher, and every one thereafter. And now this… the book!

This day was long in coming but well worth the wait.

And I don’t dare read it. As much faith as I have in the many editors and proofreaders who worked on the book, I fear that a single typo might have slipped through, and if so, I wouldn’t want to ever know about it. I’m a bit of a perfectionist in this way, and right now, staring at that box of books, they look just perfect. I want them to remain that way in my mind forever.