Half way there…and then halfway again
Posted on | September 17, 2004 | 7 Comments
There’s an old math argument that says that if you walk toward something you will never get there, because you’ll first cover half the distance, then half the remaining distance and so on, and so on, to the point where you have this microscopic distance to go but still have to cover half that distance…so you never arrive.
That’s the way I feel about waiting for publication day. In the early days, it was years off, and the years seemed long. Then it got so it was months off, and the months lasted forever. When it got down to mere weeks…the weeks streeeeeeetched out. Now it’s down to days, single-digit days as of tomorrow, and you know what? It still seems a long way off! I’m sure that when the 27th comes, the hours will be interminable.
I had my first report of someone finding The Road to the Dark Tower on sale in a brick-and-mortar store. Apparently a Borders in New Jersey has shelved the book. I had the strange experience of going to the grocery store and seeing copies of From the Borderlands racked up. Bestseller #19 according to their display.
Not a single response to my mass distribution of press releases over the past week. Makes me wonder if I didn’t write it in a way that would capture anyone’s attention. Or perhaps the media are just waiting for those interminable weeks and days to go by.
Just like me.
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7 Responses to “Half way there…and then halfway again”
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About
Bev Vincent is the author of The Road to the Dark Tower, the Bram Stoker Award nominated companion to Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and The Stephen King Illustrated Companion, which was nominated for a 2010 Edgar® Award and a 2009 Bram Stoker Award.
His short fiction has appeared in places like Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, From the Borderlands and The Blue Religion. He is a contributing editor with Cemetery Dance magazine and a member of the Storytellers Unplugged blogging community. He also writes book reviews for Onyx Reviews.
September 17th, 2004 @ 5:31 pm
It’s killing me I tell ya! Killing me! That I can’t read The Road yet becuase I have to wait for the final book. It’s sitting here nicely on my desk next too LIttle’s The Resort mocking me.
September 17th, 2004 @ 6:07 pm
That post perfectly sums up how I feel waiting for my book. It comes out in December, but that still feels about forever away. Every day I think, “Okay, I’m another day closer now.” Two and a half months wouldn’t normally seem that vast a gulf of time to me, but right now it feels like I have an expanse of centuries, perhaps eons, to cross before I make it to Publication Day. It’s kind of pathetic, really, but I could no more *not* feel this way than I could will the earth to stop spinning.
September 18th, 2004 @ 10:52 am
Reminds me of how I felt in the last two weeks of my second pregnancy. I really thought I’d NEVER get rid of this huge lump I’d been carrying for nine months! I was so relieved she arrived on time! I’m sure your book will be as big a joy for you as Jess was for me Bev… perhaps I shouldn’t compare a book to a child, but it’s something you’ve created and nurtured all these months, so not entirely different in nature.
I’m reading my way through the Dark Tower series like crazy so I can move on to your book as soon as I have finished them.
Kxx
September 19th, 2004 @ 5:58 pm
Bev!
I got your book today, so you can add Portland, Oregon to your list of cities that are already selling the book. My local Borders had a copy mixed in with SK’s books, so I snatched it up. It looks great and I’ll probably start reading it soon. : )
BTW, I was also at Target and they had a bunch of copies of “From the Borderlands.” The books were prominently displayed at the front of their ficion section.
I know the suspense is killing you, but hang in there. The 28th is just around the corner.
September 20th, 2004 @ 8:46 am
People are reporting seeing From the Borderlands everywhere — this book is going to be huge.
I’ll write more about this later, but I have mixed feelings about finding out ROAD is out across the country already. I’ve been building myself up for this big day, Sept. 28, but now the book has snuck out on its own behind my back!
Thanks for the report!
September 22nd, 2004 @ 2:40 pm
Looks like I spawned an early delivery! The book appeared before its due date.
I wasn’t around for the days when my wife was pregnant–that was several years before we met. However, she’s told me stories about how glad she was to get that child out of her in the final weeks!
September 22nd, 2004 @ 2:44 pm
…that it got better, but it doesn’t!
These days, the anticipation is keeping me awake at night. Mostly now it’s about reviews and interviews. Waiting for the USA Today piece to see how much coverage I got and if I come off as a doofus. Waiting for that first major review.
Waiting, waiting, waiting…