I woke up this morning and realized we're exactly one week from the release of Double or Nothing. That's when the panic set in. There's so much to do before a book launch, from finalizing print layouts to lining up the audiobook production, and the whole checklist has to be timed just right for a perfect launch.
(It helped when I became experienced enough to realize there's actually no such thing as a perfect launch, and if it does happen, it's basically by accident. Publishing is a giant machine with a hundred moving parts, and inevitably something is going to turn out weird. It's more about the 'catching whatever screwed up and fixing it as quickly and gracefully as possible.')
Fortunately, I'm still fired up from my short trip to NYC. The Sycamore Theater Company put on a wonderful production, the Whitney Museum of Modern Art was sublime, the food was fantastic, and the hospitality at the McKittrick Hotel was, as always, terrifying. I mean, warm and welcoming. I came home with a bounty of inspiration, some new projects in the conceptual stages, and enough surplus energy to, well, launch this book.
I wish I could release it today, if only because this is right about the time the stage fright and "oh god they're all going to hate it" nerves begin to act up. It's a writer thing, can't be helped. One week isn't too long to wait, though.
Two weeks after that I'm jetting back to New York for this year's Thrillerfest convention, visiting with dear friends, and doing research for a new book. And once I return we can talk about...you know. That secret project I've been hinting at. That one I can't talk about. We're gonna talk all about it. Promise.