The new book has arrived!

Last wednesday was another memorable moment. I had received word from the publisher that my book was due to arrive. When I got home (a bit later than usual due to an interview that took a little more time than I had planned on), I found a box waiting for me on our dinner table. And Bianca, my wife, waiting anxiously. She was as curious as me, but had managed to curb her enthousiasm just a little bit. I took the time to take off my coat and my shoes (which took a lot of will power) and then took the scissors and ripped open the tape. The box contained my books! Wow! It's been a couple of years since I wrote the first version. And in the mean time another book of mine ('De Derde Macht') was published as well, but that did not diminish this experience. E-books will never lead to a comparable rush. To hold your own book in your own hands! Of course we celebrated, with a Dutch treat (oliebollen), and a bubbling Prosecco. And I leafed through my book and read some parts. It is a great book, I think, and I'm very proud of it!
Of course, as a Goodreads Author, I made a page on Goodreads for my book. So, if you find the time to read it, it's possible to leave a review! And if you leave a review, other people will be encouraged to pick up the book as well!
The coming weeks I will try and do my best to inform people about my book. There have been books sent out to people to write about it, and I will publish another bit on my blog, to whet people's appetites.
In the mean time I just finished writing my 34th short story of this year. I think I will find time to write one more before the year is over. I sent out two stories to participate in the new edition of the Trek Sagae-competition. Participating in that last year was a lot of fun, so I'm curious to see if I can repeat my success. I also sent two stories to the publishers of the Ganymedes series of short story collections. I hope they will choose one (or both! one can hope) for the next edition: Ganymedes 16 - which will appear next year. It would be a great honour to be part of the next edition. Coming up in januari there is another competition: the Fantasy Strijd Brugge, for stories up to 1500 words. I wrote a story of 1499 words last februari, and I can't wait to send it in. Participating in these competitions is one of the ways in which I hope to bring attention to my fantasy novel 'De Krakenvorst' which will appear in 2016! Again, something to look forward to!
Finally: at last it is official. I'm going to reduce my time at the office and start working for 24 hours each week in stead of 32 from januari the 1st. I hope the extra day off will create some time to edit my next book, write the new non-fiction book I have planned, prepare a collection of poems, and write new short stories! The well of my inspiration hasn't fallen dry yet ...