The proof copy of the printed version of ‘COAST: An Act Of Burial’ arrived yesterday.
The title of this post notwithstanding, I’m not feeling as excited as I think I should be. It’s not in any way anticlimactic, but to hold my printed novel for the first time just didn’t feel quite as ‘special’ as I was expecting. Perhaps I’m just a really, really boring kinda guy. Other writers have spoken to me of their thrill at receiving the first physical copy of their work, but I seem to have taken this first-in-a-lifetime event rather disappointingly in my pragmatic stride. Typical male, haha — men think, women feel.
I’ve made a couple of changes to the cover and submitted it for review again. Then I’ll request another proof copy. Once the proof is okay I can get going with some sales of physical books. This should hopefully just take a couple of days and so perhaps the printed version will be available by the end of next week at my e-store.
I was taken to task this week by my friend Sergeant Crabfat, who spotted some technical issues in the story, mostly to do with the sounds that bullets make in flight — although he did tell me he’s enjoying the read. I’m very grateful to him for correcting me on these details and I’ll certainly fix them in the sequel. To be fair though, I already did a gargantuan amount of research to get as many details right as possible, so that fact that so few slipped through the net is actually quite encouraging. As I said to my friend, there’s only so much research one person can do.
The other and somewhat vindicating side of this particular coin, however, is that this week it was again assumed that I am an ex-spy, former special agent or retired covert operative. Now, I can’t comment on specific details, but clearly the reader will draw (and is apparently drawing) their own conclusion. How’s that for an ambiguous answer to a leading question?
Roger and out, X.
