As I shared in my last entry, I got my first glance at ARCs for WAKING LAZARUS. Yes, I know they're just plain old trade paperback things with a modest white cover (the final cover, at a reduced size, is reproduced on the front). Yes, I know they're unedited galley proofs inside, with all the warts of my unedited copy showing. Yes, I know they're not properly typeset, or printed on nice paper.

And yet.

And yet, as I said to my editor: they're indescribably beautiful.

Two days later, I think I've finally emerged from my euphoria enough to offer a few comments. One of the first things I did was just flip through one of the ARCs--you know, kinda like you'd do with one of those stop-motion flip books. Man, I thought to myself, I obviously like me some italics. Dave, my editor, made a comment about that in the editorial process--something to the effect of, "We'll have to figure out how to handle some of your stylistic passages"--and now I see what he meant. I've always known I tend to have a certain stream-of-consciousness style when I'm writing (I like to write from a limited third-person POV, emphasis on limited), and seeing the thing in actual print opened my eyes to my own tendencies a bit more.

Next, I smelled it. Yes, really. I love the smell of fresh book in the morning.

Then, I put it down for a while. Delayed gratification and all that. I didn't want to start reading it right away--I just needed to get used to the idea of having an actual PRINTED COPY of my book. I packed it in my suitcase and hit the road for a biz trip.

When I reached my destination, I unpacked, cracked open the book, and started reading. Okay, a bit of a mistake. I thought I'd be able to sit down and read it, somewhat experience it the same way as someone coming to the story for the first time. (I, myself, haven't read anything of the book since handing it in a few months ago, and haven't read it straight through for several months.) Instead, as you might guess, I started analyzing the thing. Oooh, I should have changed this. Man, why did I say THAT? Wait, this would sound better if...

I'm guessing architects, when looking at their finished buildings, have a tendency to look at the structure, pick apart all the little details. Such was the case with my reading; I'm not sure, frankly, I'll EVER be able to read through the thing recreationally, the way I read books by other authors. (Some writers claim they can't ready any book without analyzing it and getting bogged down. Luckily, I don't seem to suffer from that particular affliction.) So, after about 50 pages, I had to put the thing down.

Still, since then, I've caught myself eyeing it and smiling. Being thankful I even have a book to look at and smile at.

And yes, I've smelled it a few more times, too.