It’s REAL!

I just got the design layout of my book yesterday.  The UPS guy showed up at the door and as soon as I realized what it was, I was bouncing and giggling and running all over the living room.  Poor UPS guy, I’d just finished working out so I stunk, and I was sweaty and not wearing a bra and acting like a freakin’ lunatic!

I ripped open the package and saw for the first time, the cover of my book.  It’s not printed yet, mind you.  This is just a design proof.  So I saw, to my utter amazement, my own name, Athena, on the cover page. WOW!

Somehow, the summer of sweating and crawling around in crawl spaces with spiders and walking all over a city on foot, and living with a bunch of uncouth guys in the U district and being a hermit all hours of the night while I was writing – suddenly it all seems worth it.  Suddenly it doesn’t matter if the book is actually good or not, because I busted my ass to get it done and I challenged myself harder than I’ve ever been challenged and now I have something to show for it.

I have to ship it back in Monday so I have all weekend to look it over.  Can’t think, can’t talk.  Just a big giddy idiot right now. Words tumbling over themselves – I’d better go before I have an accident.