Leaving the nest

Just a few days to go until pre-orders open for 'How Soon Is Now?', and it's suddenly all becoming very real.

The website is finally coming into shape, the book's assets - .epub files, cover images, etc etc - are all waiting patiently on the servers of all the major ebook sellers and, suddenly, I'm hit with the realisation that ... it's happening.

This book, which I thought about for years, then spent almost as many years writing, honing and tweaking until I was finally happy with every part of it, is finally going to meet the person for whom it was written: You, the Discerning Reader.

Should I be worried about this? I suppose I should, but here's the thing: I love it. Am I supposed/allowed to say that? Well, it's true. Over the 10+ drafts and numerous tidy-ups and error-correction edits it's been through, I've had more than enough time to get sick of it, but I never have. I love those characters and that story, and every draft was another chance to lose myself in it again.

They became like old friends, these characters. My wife and daughter, both keen devotees of the art of personality profiling, have had in-depth discussions about which character from the book would be an ENTJ and which would be an ISFJ (I know, this stuff goes over my head, too), as if they were talking about people they knew. That's got to be a good sign, right?

Anyway, I hope all of the thought and love that went into this book are communicated to you, reader, as 'How Soon Is Now?' finally leaves the nest and flies out on its own.