The Waiting Game

by Anita Hughes

When I was pregnant with my first child, I spent a lot of time waiting. I waited to feel the first kick, I waited for my monthly pre-natal visit, I waited for Lamaze classes to begin. Each event seemed to take forever to occur, but each event also brought me closer to the birth of my son. I spent nine months being impatient, excited, terrified and finally overjoyed when I delivered him.

Being book pregnant is much the same thing. Waiting for one’s book to be released has many watershed events – the first time you see your cover, your first pass pages, when you receive blurbs from other authors or get early ARC’s. Each of these events seems to arrive with the speed of a horse and buggy, but they do eventually happen. And each time they do, they bring you one step closer to holding the finished book in your hand.

As I await the publication of my second book – MARKET STREET – which will be released on March 26th, 2013 by St. Martin’s Press, I like to think I have learned something from the release of MONARCH BEACH last summer; just as when I went through my second pregnancy, I tried to learn from the first. What I am trying to embrace is: Enjoy the wait.

There are few events in life which live up to the anticipation surrounding them: a two hour child’s birthday party rarely matches up to the nights spent dreaming about the big day. Vacations that are booked months ahead can be plagued by poor accommodations or inclement weather.

Your wedding day and the birth of a child usually far exceed anything you could imagine. They are worth the months of slowly peeling off calendar days. They are moments you will never forget.

The release of your book may not match your matrimonial union or the first sight of your newborn, but it as an exciting, once in a lifetime moment. It is a time that as soon as your book has been accepted for publication (now that is a wonderful day!) you know will eventually arrive. So, as I tell myself, kick back, watch a foreign movie or indulge in reading your favorite author, and enjoy the wait. Publication day will come and then you will have to find something else worth waiting for.