Waiting has never been so awful and stress-inducing. I’d like to say labor was easier… but there are far too many people out there that would probably hurt me if I did.

The very first paperback Courting Morpheus to roll off the printer arrived yesterday. I hugged it and squeezed it and loved it and almost named it George. Then the girls took it away from me and put it somewhere safe, away from my crazed book-sniffing nose and spine-cracking hands. Today we show it off to family and friends before placing it in honor on a shelf dedicated to Belfire Press.

I pitched the Courting Morpheus idea to Apex when I was first brought on in 2006, and that got the ball rolling. Over 300 submissions were whittled down to 13. Everything was a go..and then I made a move that some are probably wishing they’d kicked me over. I quit the company and took CM with me. Numerous rounds of edits were applied, a lot of second-guessing by me, and finally I thought it tight enough to send to another company, Shroud. During this shift, we lost an author, but hope he’ll return to allow us to publish the story in The New Bedlam Project. And as ya’ll know by now, unfortunately due to other commitments at Shroud, CM ran out of contract and we were adrift again.

Well, not really. I’d felt the “uh-oh” twinge about two months before our contract was done, and since I’d already been putting the wheels into motion for Belfire, CM became our first project. Our first release. And damn it if Greg Hall’s At the End of Church Street didn’t almost beat it to the printer!

A final round of beta-readers suggested numerous edits (quite a few were rather heavy, actually) so we held off on sending to the printer, and dug back in. Finally, I sent it off to the copy editor.. and then to the printer.

And it’s here.

There are a handful of quirky things throughout the book, in the same places but in different stories, that are intended for a contest we’re currently working out the prize for. I almost panicked when I didn’t see them where I thought they were…LOL

I clicked approve last night, and now it’s available for ordering, either direct from the printer, or through us at Belfire.

Three years. I’m in awe at how patient the authors have been, how extremely cooperative and caring they’ve been. They’re definitely inspiring and I have to say – very, very talented.

You should check them out….