Although I have never taken any kind of illegal drugs, I think I'm experiencing the same kind of weird ethereal sensation.
I have been saddled with what I'm calling "Christmas Tree Brain" ever since I got word that a boutique publisher wants to publish my newest manuscript SERVAL SON: Spots & Stripes Forever.
To all intents and purposes, I'm completely sane. I'm doing my copywriting job without a hitch, interacting as though nothing at all unusual is going on in my life. But every time I get a few minutes to myself--or as evening rolls around--I find my brain lit up like a Christmas tree, thinking about September 1st when I will hold my newest book in my hands.
A book I didn't self-publish.
Hey, the five books I self-published were terrific enough. I loved holding them in my hands. I loved reading the reviews and getting the emails from readers about them. Don't get me wrong.
But they were all MY doing. I mean, no publisher was beating down my door seeking a piece of the action. Their publication was my doing--paid for entirely by me. They looked good, they felt good. They were good!
This is even better. My brain won't stop lighting up like a blaring slot machine that's flashing some huge monetary number.
And (strangely enough) I'm not even thinking about what the success of this book could mean to my bank balance. That's so far down on the list, it's pathetic. (I really should put more stock in money than I do. But I never have, and I probably never will--which is why I usually have so little of it!) I didn't EXPECT to make much money on this book--I just needed to write it...for Deaken...because De said I should...and because I wanted to warn wild cat lovers about the kind of commitment they'll have to make if they get a wild cat (assuming they want to do it right.)
Try sleeping in a room with a loud, flashing slot machine ("Christmas Tree Brain") lighting up your cranium. It's next to impossible. It feels so great I can't sleep!
This afternoon I read the manuscript again--for the first time in a month. It's GOOD! It's FINE! It's...everything I hoped it would be.
And it was all mine, just like the other ones. I wrote every word. But now someone else has come alongside me and negotiated a piece of the action, dived in to format it, paid for my copyright, and is doing everything else (money-wise) that I thought I'd have to do to bring the book to market. Somebody in the know, with a great sense of business, wants to take a hit monetarily for a chance to win big with my book!
It feels a little miraculous!
It's enough to make me wish I were a gecko so I could hang upside down on the ceiling and do a happy dance without giving myself a serious concussion--or worse!
It just blows me away!
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