Happy Bookday to me! August 29th 2017, An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors finally became officially available. It's been spotted in the wild at bookstores across the country.
Here we are at the beginning. The beginning of the series and hopefully the beginning of a career. One thing I'd like to comment on is how, for all that writing is a fundamentally lonely endeavor, it takes many people and an enormous amount of effort to create a book.
First there are my beloved critiquers, without whom I would be quite dramatically lost. They keep the story from going off the rails in its infancy and gently steer it, by way of rivers of red ink, to being the best work of fiction it can be.
Then comes my agent, who does all the legwork or actually selling the thing as well as providing another round of critical feedback. Without her expert guidance with contracts, I would likely end up buying a timeshare in Guatemala instead of selling a book.
Then comes my editor, who pitched the manuscript to the editorial board and provided even more valuable feedback on the story.
Then there was the copy editor, and the art director, and the cover artist, the layout person, the publicity director, and many more who are obscure to me, the list goes on and on.
To all of those people I give thanks. I also give thanks to friendly bookstore owners who stock their shelves with my books and arrange book-signings for me. Also to the bloggers who interview me and the podcast teams who have me on as a guest.
Every writer lives in a web of interdependencies without which they cannot stand. I suspect this holds true even for self-published authors, who cultivate the same sorts of relationships, just by different avenues.
We do all this for the sake of making yet one more connection, to the reader, so that they can share in the grand adventure we have prepared for them.
Now I ask you to join us. Buckle on your rapier, tilt your hat at a jaunty angle, sharpen your wits and step aboard.
An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors awaits.
Viva la beginning!