I am waiting. Again.

Waiting is definitely a THING in publishing, I’ve discovered. There tend to be flurries of intense activity, sometimes with crazy deadlines and a buzz of excitement. And then – nothing. Long spells of absolutely nothing. Sometimes it makes me wonder if I’m crazy, if I just imagined the publishing contract and the editors and even the agent. Maybe I have become delusional because I wanted this book to be published so much. Maybe none of it is real. But then, things start to happen again and there is another little flurry of activity – sufficient evidence to keep me going during the next period of waiting.

What am I waiting for? Well, copy edits on BETWEEN for one thing.

The book went off for copy editing very nearly two months ago now. Every morning I check my email with a mixture of anticipation and foreboding to see if the file has shown up yet in my inbox. And then I proceed to check that inbox over and over all day long until 5, after which I assume all sensible publishing people have left the building and will not be sending me copy edits today.

This will be my first experience with this phase of manuscript preparation. I look forward to it as another step on this adventure, a step that brings the book closer to being a BOOK, instead of just “that thing I wrote.” I worry about things. How many changes will I be asked to make? Will they try to take away all of my semicolons? Because I love the squiggly little guys and will have to fight to keep them.

Only the so far nameless, shadowy power that is the Copy Editor knows the answers.

I’m also waiting on cover art. The subject came up a few months back and there has been no more word. Editor Danielle tells me she’ll likely just find it on her desk one morning, and that she’s pretty much as in the dark as I am as far as the time it may be revealed.

But I also have a deadline for Book Two, so while I wait I’m also writing as fast as I can. I should hit fifty thousand words today if all goes well, and the rough draft should be done by the end of the month. I’ve been having fun with this sequel, and I’ll just hint that research rabbit holes have included: the myth of Prester John, sphinxes, sacred wells, Peyote,  and Ponce de Leon and the search for the Fountain of Youth.

I had my author photos taken, which was much more fun than I had anticipated. And I’m beginning to work with the very talented and creative Stefan Friesen on the design for my new author website.

So this waiting thing is more a state of mind as there simply are not enough hours in the day to do what needs doing and twiddle my thumbs as well. Which is fortunate, because I never was good at thumb twiddling and there are no Angry Birds on my iPhone.