I've gotten some really validating feedback on what I sent out! Yes, it is an imperfect piece of fiction, and there are a few issues with it that I'm going to be addressing before publication day, but any negative feedback has been relatively small when compared to the whole. How great is that!? I'm increasingly reaching a place where I can be proud of something that I think I have grounds to be proud of. If it was becoming evident to me that a year of hard work had produced the same thing that I can buy in any Farm and Fleet to fertilize my garden, I might be contemplating a cessation to all authorly efforts. I can gladly say that is not the case. I'm going to continue doing this. And there will be better books and worse books that I'll inevitably crank out, but in the big picture I think I've got the chops.
It's nice; feeling like what you're doing is the right thing for you. Too few of us get to feel that way, I think.
Everything's still on track for June 30th, I'm happy to say. There's still plenty of time to get things ironed out that need it, put together the final digital and physical formats, and order a physical proof to review for myself to make sure it doesn't look like butt.
Yep, everything's thumbs-up around here. I'm even wearing my comfy, swishy pants today!
Yesterday wasn't great. I think I almost died twice, both times in my car. First, an elderly woman pulled out in front of me while I was cruising down my personal Main Street, and I was forced to swing wide to avoid her Buick. Being the nice guy I am, I gave her a forgiving wave as I passed her front bumper. I felt kind of bad for her...I could tell she was rattled. Lucky for me I've got some razor-sharp stuntman skills behind the wheel. (Can't parallel park, though. That's hard.)
The second scenario of potential fiery auto death was while I was parked in a left turn lane, waiting for the arrow. It was a small intersection in the middle of my modestly populated town, and I'd navigated it many times. THIS time, a dude driving a beer truck came swinging in from my right, making his own left turn that would bring him by my front left headlight. I guess this guy was supremely confident of his beer-haulin' skills, because he didn't seem to slow down as he took the turn. The truck wasn't super long, but it was long enough that the rear of his trailer only missed me by like a foot or something, even though he took it wide to compensate. He didn't even look down to register my distress. Come on, man...I know you think you're Tom Cruise in a truck, in that Tom-Cruise-in-a-truck-movie-that-Tom-Cruise-never-actually-made, but you are no TOM CRUISE IN A TRUCK, OKAY?
Sheesh.
Anyway, at the end of the story I'm still kickin'. That's all I can ask for, I guess. Shutting up.
Back to work.