It may have come across in previous discussions that writing is not necessarily an easy process. At least, writing “properly” is not an easy process. Writers will write, no matter what, the thing is that most of what we brain-drain onto the page doesn’t make a lot of sense, is full of errors and mislaid punctuation marks and is sometimes only barely fit for human consumption.
Though the entries I post here go through a surprisingly intense drafting process before I post them, they’re still very rough in terms of polish. I like it that way, it serves my purpose. Or at least, it serves the purpose I created these pages for.
Creating the book however, was a whole different kettle of fish.
While Where The Waves Take Me was officially released as a book months ago, it took several more (exceedingly frustrating) revisions before I could really deem it ‘ready’ for its ultimate destiny. Basically I created one version for friends and family (which in a lot of ways I like better!) then, once that was safely in the hands that I wanted it in, I set about making another version for the ‘general’ public. The changes are itty bitty, mostly grammatical, the kind of thing that close friends will either not notice or not care about because it adds a little more ‘me’ to the manuscript. Four entries were deleted altogether and the pictures vanished due to fear of accidental trademark violation.
‘Cause you see, unlike my novel which will never really go anywhere until I have time to hire a proper proof-reader, Where The Waves Take Me in book form was never really created only for people who knew me to read. From the very beginning, the project had a wider destiny. Finally, at long last, the email confirmation came in from my shore-side supervisor this morning.
FYI: Order confirmed for the following: 36 copies hardcover ‘Where the Waves Take Me’.
The book has gone fleet wide. Two copies to every ship in the main fleet, and one copy each to the ships in the other fleet our company owns (which is only 6 ships, but still!).
This is what I’ve been editing and editing and beating my head against the wall for since the summer.
Head Office is planning to have one copy on display and the other for check out, and track how popular it is. Once that information is in place they might might look at recommending it to the shops. Granted, my supervisor has no pull in that department whatsoever, all things revenue are handled by a totally different set of people, but she can recommend.
At this point I’m not sure whether or not to be proud…or terrified !