There comes the point in the writing process when your work is finished, and the book is out the door. But there remains an emptiness, that a thing you toiled on for so long is no longer an active part of your life.

That all changes when the galleys arrive.

Just holding a physical book with your name on the cover and your words on every page is quite an experience. I began working on Magicians Impossible in April of 2014. that was three years and a month ago, and now I’m holding the (nearly) finished book in my hands. This is the uncorrected proof, so it’s got some spelling errors and formatting screw-ups. I actually sent in my requested changes as these were being printed – changes that will be incorporated into the final version of the book.

I have eight of these galleys, and my agent has the other two. I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do with these. I know some authors like to do giveaways and contests, but I’d rather save those for the proofed version of the book, not one that needs fixing. Right now it looks like I’ll be saving them to fill in gaps with publicity and promotion. SMP’s publicity and marketing departments are first-rate, but there are always going to be things that crop up requiring a galley copy – that podcast interview, that radio show.

So where do I go from here? Well, onward and upward. I have a novel I’m currently drafting, and just sent my agent a proposal for another book project I hope to do. I’m not one for self-reflection on work I’ve done. I don’t even own copies of the film/TV projects I have written that were produced. For me it’s always about the next project, the next story.

But having these around? It’s nice. really nice. I can’t wait to add more to my shelves.