Guess What I got in the Mail? Or... how to send a moment of gratification by post

Look what the mailman brought...









Maybe someday, seeing my book in print for the first time will "get old". Maybe someday, I will open a box of ARCs and refrain from flipping the pages while inhaling that new book smell. Maybe someday, I will hand it to a neighbor without saying, "Careful of fingerprints." Maybe someday, I won't cringe when someone bends the pages back a little too far. 




But not today. 




It's days like this that make me intensely grateful. One bound book can remind me that all those months where it felt like writing a page would take more work than removing all of my organs with a spoon were worth it. 









It's especially true with this book. The task of writing it seemed insurmountable at times. Creating the fictional world often felt as ambitious - and impossible - as creating an actual world. 




Now it's real. It's corporeal. It's tangible. It smells good. And for the next few days, its pages will remain pristine, its covers shiny. 




When you get ARCs, there's this quiet moment... this breath of time before the book goes out to reviewers... and for this instant it's yours and only yours. 




I'm having my moment. It won't last long. 




P.S. Wanna see EVERBOUND do a trick? It can stand on its head.