Oh, happy day! Check it out - I have galleys, lots of galleys! And getting the box of them dumped on my doorstep felt like Christmas, my birthday, and Arbor Day all wrapped up into one because that's when I could actually touch this book (even though it's a galley, it still looks and feels like the real deal).

I'm weird about that. None of my books feel real until I actually hold them in my hands. Maybe it's because they've lived in my head for so long. First, I mull over an idea for weeks, months, sometimes years. Then I have to glue my butt to my desk chair and write the thing - oh bother. Then come the revisions, more revisions, and then guess what? More revisions? Thank you, don't mind if I do.

But I think that long time spent thinking about, writing, and then the fixing serves an additional purpose other than creating and polishing a book. For me, it allows me to detach from the project. Believe me, after the umpteenth revision, it doesn't feel like my book anymore, it feels like a jumble of places I need to make not suck.

But when that magical box arrives, it feels like a book again - my book. And because I've had that separation, and because now it's been many months since I've spent any time looking at the text, and because in the meantime I've completed another novel and started another, I get to look at it with new eyes. Have I read it already? Does my puppy poop on the rug? You betcha.

I've set aside one of my galleys to give away here. If anyone wants to read a "haunting story of three people dramatically thrown together by fate, each struggling to come to terms with their harrowing past" just post your own bad puppy, or bad kitty story in the comments section. I'll decide if one of those trumps my puppy's misbehavior and then you win!

Okay, lurkers, this is your chance!

Oh, and just in case you missed my plug the first time, here's where you can see more of cover artist Michael Morgenstern's wonderful work: http://www.mmorgenstern.com/