Every time I leave the house for a long trip, I spend an extra minute in the driveway trying to remember what it was that I forgot. Something always gets forgotten or missed during a process as complex as packing. Sometimes I think of it right there in the driveway and I can fetch it. Other times I’m several hours down the road before I figure out what I forgot. Figuring out what was forgotten is always a relief. Once I know what I forgot, I can relax because it was not as bad as it could have been.
I just had that experience with the printing of Hold on to Your Horses. I prepped and planned and prepared as best I could. Then I sent the files to the printer. I couldn’t see anything else for me to do, but part of me was waiting to see where the mistake was. Part of me was worried that the mistake was huge and would ruin the project. The printer found one mistake and emailed me. (files in the wrong format.) Howard looked and found an even bigger mistake. (Files of insufficient resolution for print.) Both of these mistakes are huge, but they are easily fixed now that they have been caught. So now I know what I missed and it has been demonstrated to me that the safety net to catch my errors works very well. I find this very comforting.
I’m so excited to see your book!
Dan often says, as we’re leaving his parents’ house, “Did we forget anything?” If he asks, the answer is always yes, no matter how hard I search my brain and think the answer is no. It took perhaps a year of my “no” replies and remember the forgotten item on the way home, before we finally figured out he has a sense about those things.