A Schlock Mercenary book release is much like running a marathon. There are months and months of advance preparation, book layout, printing, shipping arrangements. Then there are the pre-race jitters. Howard and I both had sleepless nights fretting over unpleasant scenarios. The arrival of the books is like the starters gun. Yesterday we ran flat out as fast as we could, trying to get everything done. Today we’re settling down to a sane pace because we can’t sprint our way through the next week and a half. We have to pick a pace we can maintain and just keep going until it is done.
Our garage smells of printer’s ink and binding glue. This is a happy smell. It is the smell of success. Yesterday, after all the books were moved in and the truck drove away, I stood at my kitchen counter and looked down at the book in my hand. A tension that I have been carrying inside me for two months unwound. I’d grown so used to it, that the release was a surprise. I now have everything I need to make good on the promises I made when I accepted money for books that didn’t exist yet.
There will problems with the mailing. There always are. But now they are all problems I have tools to solve, problems I have solved before. And most of the packages will just go to their recipients with no problems at all.
Speaking of shipping…
Can you suggest a cheap-ish hotel/motel/place I pay money for a warm bed and cable (and maybe wifi) near-ish the Keep?
Last time I stayed with “friends” (a mistake I’ll never repeat again so help me), and I want time to relax and hang out…
Having carried a tension/stress load for the better part of year. I completely understand the unwinding. Don’t be surprise if you discover that you miss that tension load and that it will take some time to get used to it being gone. That said: having the feeling fall way is the best.
I’m sorry. I’m not familiar with hotels in downtown Provo. The address of Dragon’s Keep is 260 N University Avenue. Maybe you can use that and google the closest hotels.
Excellent reminder. I’ve actually experienced missing stress before. It was right after the last book shipping and I kept looking around for new stress to fill that empty space. I’m half expecting the same thing to happen this time.