My book is coming out tomorrow.
...
What a totally surreal feeling!
The first time I got my hands on a bound, book-like thing with my name on it, I poked it with my finger, getting a solid and satisfying 'thump'. My brain, fueled with nothing more than random inspiration and an overactive imagination, produced something that went out into the publishing world and became (after a long, hard slog accompanied by research, luck, and a helluva lot of waiting) a book. A real, honest-to-goodness thing of paper and ink. And it will sit on shelves and be mailed across the country and its characters and ideas will take up residence in someone else's head besides mine. Potentially *lots* of heads.
It's mind-blowing, really.
So tomorrow's launch date will be celebrated by posting requisite online thingies, driving kids to and from various summer activities, and finally conclude in an actual date-date where I plan to go out to a lovely dinner with my husband at a quiet restaurant and together toast the realization of a childhood dream. (Good food? Babysitting? Quality time with Better-Than-Boyfriend? Bliss!) And in July there will be fireworks and parades, signings and events, and some great times scheduled for the Luminous Summer months, but online, there will be PRIZES!
Oh yes, my friends, there shall be prizes!!!
So here's how we party:
• Tomorrow (June 30th) is the last day to enter the Luminous Summer Grand Prize Giveaway so go here to enter! Like what you see in the above photo? There's more! (In fact, I've received even more awesome 2011 Debut bookmarks so there's additional surprise cool points thrown in just for fun!) Contest ends at midnight.
• Tomorrow (June 30th) will also be the Elevensies Lunch & Launch announced here. Smiles, folks: it involves chocolate!
• Have you been following the LUMINOUS book tours?* If so, you have collected various letters that can be unscrambled and entered into a Super Special Location to find the Secret Stash of Goodies hidden on my website, www.dawnmetcalf.com.
Here's how that works:
1) Gather up the letters. There should be 15 in all.
2) Unscramble them into a phrase commonly found on summer postcards. (The phrase has 4 words.)
3) You have approximately 24 hours to solve the puzzle or the baby becomes one of us forever! (No, wait, that's Jim Henson's Labyrinth...sorry.)
4) Go to my my website and click on the "mariposa" on the main page.
5) Follow the instructions, enter the phrase, and get your Secret Stash of Goodies!
Then, tomorrow, June 30th, please join me as I become a real published author.
*tick*tick*tick*tick*tick*tick*tick* YAY!!!
Yes. This.
* If you haven't, that's okay! The letters are: E, U, S, E, R, O, E, H, I, E, W, E, Y, R, H (not in that order). What can I say? I'm a giver. :-)
