Upstairs, I hear my wife say: "Tony, come here." Downstairs, I usually ignore these kinds of comments and continue my plans for worldwide conquest uninterrupted. Kidding! What I meant to say was: Downstairs, I usually drop everything I'm doing and spring into action, vaulting up the stairs to find out what item of interest my lovely wife has discovered.
This time, it happens to be a package from Bethany House Publishers. My publisher. My lovely wife knows exactly what the package holds, and so do I. "Well, go ahead and open it," my lovely wife says. She's never been one for delayed gratification.
After approximately 25 minutes of tearing, I finally manage to make it inside the package and see the treasure it holds: a copy of the final hardcover for WAKING LAZARUS. A real, living, breathing final copy. (For me, you'd better believe the thing lives and breathes.) That nice front cover I've spent many an hour gazing at, some wonderful blurbs from other writers on the back cover, a photo of moi on the inside back flap (Thank goodness they didn't use a photo of me grinning; after reading the book, I think the last thing people will want to see is a picture of me grinning. In fact, I think the last thing I, myself, will want them to see is a picture of me grinning.), and an interior design that's like buttah. The Bethany House folks have hit a home run, I'm pleased as punch, and two cliches per sentence is my limit.
After about an hour of reading, smelling and fondling my new book, I wander off to bed. A few moments after I slip between the sheets, my lovely wife asks, "Did you put the book under your pillow?"
A real joker, my wife.
Which is why I can't tell her I have, indeed, slipped the book beneath my pillow.
In related notes, I'm leavin' on a jet plane today, headed for the big Book Expo America show in Washington DC for a few days.
If you're going to the show, please drop by one of my "official" signings. I'm at the Mystery Writers of America booth (#1749) from 11:15 to Noon on Friday, and at table 16 in the "Autographing Area" from 4:30 to 5:30 on Saturday.
I'm planning to post a blog entry or two during the show, but we'll just play that by ear, shall we?
