Nerves!

Late in the day on Tuesday, I got an email from the publicist at the Press. It was short and to the point: "News to Me galleys are in. Would you like me to send you one?"

And at that, my hands went cold, my heart started pounding, and my stomach began to churn. I was a wreck for the rest of the day.

Galleys! It's almost a book! Oh god what have I done?

Well, duh. It's not like this was a surprise. I spent last weekend reading page proofs (and finding errors! Gak!). I've seen the cover design. I knew galleys were coming any day now. None of this is a surprise, and it's all part of the process, and it was all to be expected, and ... why am I so nervous?

I did not feel this way with my first book. I was completely sanguine, confident and blase. (I was also young and foolish. It also wasn't really my book--I researched and wrote it, but it was another woman's memoir.) So I didn't expect to be so nervous this time around.

But I am.

I should receive the galleys tonight in the mail, I think. And the book will be available for pre-ordering on Amazon very soon.

Meanwhile, my first book has been published in Russia. (It's the story of a Finnish American woman who moved to the Soviet Union as a child and lost her father in Stalin's purges.) At top you see the Russian version, and below is the original version. Very cool.



Today's nature note: A balmy, breezy morning. We've had such a dry spring, but today they are promising rain. Talk about nervous: Riley is already cowering, anticipating thunderstorms.