The time before

coming May 27th

It's always a strange time, the time before.
The time before what, you ask?
The time before a new book (or new books, as the case may be) enters the world.

I'm not sure how to describe it, exactly.

Like the calm before the storm?
The hibernation before the spring?
The rest before the race?

coming July 29th

It's like you're trying to enjoy the quiet, taking advantage of the time and writing a lot (hopefully) and enjoying the (mostly) stress-free time. But every once in a while your brain kind of wakes up and says - hey, remember those books coming out soon? The ones you worked hard on last year? The ones some of your readers are saying they're excited to read? The ones that will be reviewed by professional reviewers soon? Remember those? What do you think is going to happen? Huh? What do you think is going to HAPPEN? Will things go well or will things go...not so well?

Only time will tell, of course. There's nothing that can be done now. The books are finished. You've done all you can do. And you just kind of want to forget about them for as long as you can, except that silly brain loves to send reminders every once in a while.

Silly brain. So annoying sometimes!

photo credit: morguefile.com

I have a busy spring. Lots of Skype visits, a few appearances, and one trip (to Texas in April, for the Texas Library Association conference). So I'm going to do my best to enjoy this time. I'll write. I'll talk to kids. I'll talk to librarians. I'll try to be excited, even though I am often more terrified of failing than anything else.

See, every author wants his/her books to do well. To sell well. To find readers and to make those readers happy, which in turn makes the publisher happy. But the truth is, it doesn't always happen. I try to keep my expectations low. I try to tell myself that I've done my job, the rest is out of my hands, and what will be, will be. It simply doesn't do any good to worry about it. Easier said than done, of course.

I've done this book thing many times now. It seems like it should get easier, but that doesn't seem to be the case. At least in my experiences.

Yes, right now is the time before. No one knows what's going to happen. I like the time before (as long as my brain doesn't annoy me too often). You know why? Maybe because anything is still possible. Or maybe because, I haven't failed yet.

And therein lies what is SO hard for most authors - to believe that a book which is published and will be read by some (whether a few or a million) is a success no matter what. Because what an amazing thing - a book now exists where there wasn't one before. Something was created from nothing. My silly, annoying brain managed to write a novel. That is no small thing.

Let's try to remember that, brain, in the weeks and months ahead. What do you say??