The Waiting Game

So, the arrival of Northern Haunts wasn't quite as monumental as I thought it would be.

Let me preface this by saying that this is my first publishing credit, you see? So I think I deserve to be a little excited, am I right?

Anyway…I got my acceptance email from Shroud at the end of August. I think I literally did a somersault or two (I would have done a cartwheel but my upper body strength is somewhat lacking).

After the elation wore off, that's when the torturous Waiting Game began. I waited…and then I waited some more. Then…the news. The books have gone to the printer. Yay! But then the ice storm hit. Boo! Wait a sec…printing is back on. Yay! Oh no…the proofs need a little tweaking. Boo!

Finally, the word went out on the wire – The Hardcovers Are Coming! The Hardcovers Are Coming! Can I get an order of 'Woo' with a side of 'Hoo'?!

I was okay with the waiting from that point. Tim, Editor Extraordinaire of Shroud has been a joy to work with. Plus, I kept myself busy with other projects, secretly daydreaming about that glorious day when the mailman would plunk a huge box, stacked 10 hardcovers deep, on my doorstep. But then various online writing buddies who were also in the book started reporting that they'd received their copies.

That's when the itch began. I managed not to scratch it for a few weeks but I finally caved and ordered myself a paperback from Amazon last week. It only took 9 days to get here. Imagine my excitement when I found out there was a parcel waiting for me! Squee!

I quickly opened it, and carefully plucked it out of the box. Then I thought to myself, "Hmm…it's a little smaller than I imagined. Oh well. What page am I on again? Let me just flip to the…what the? There's no Table of Contents. Where's the Table of Contents? And why does it…~flipping pages~…start on…Page 215? Uhhhh…WTF?!"

I was dumbstruck. If I were a cartoon character, there would have been a bubble above my head with a question mark in it. And then it would have popped.

Yeah, that's right. My copy of NH is missing the first 214 pages! The first 58 stories.

Gutted. That's the only way to describe it. This morning, I can laugh about it, but I was a serious mope last night. So, back to Amazon it goes, and again, I play The Waiting Game.

Again, I in no way fault Tim and/or Shroud in this. Everyone who knows Tim knows he's a stand-up guy. Truly awesome.

I blame my bad luck. Trust me…I've learned that in my life, everything is an adventure, from the smallest task to the most monumental. If something can go wrong, for me…it will. ~shakes fist at the sky~

The Moral of this story: Have a little patience.

The Silver Lining: At least I got the half of the book with my own story in it (and a few of my writing friends, to boot)!

P.S. When my hardcovers get here, I'm calling it a do-over. It'll be like this whole Amazon debacle never happened!

[NWC]