...................................................................................................: delivery!

this journey is real. you have witnessed the ups and the downs. you know how huge this is. the feeling as i carried each 60-book box up two long flights of stairs to my spare bedroom...well, it was a struggle after about 6 boxes (into a total of 18)....but anyway!! the feeling was a victory. i wouldn't call it a small victory but a large one.

my father-in-law said something to the effect of "i know this has been a labor for you." he was referring to the process of writing a book. my answer was a big fat YES, but that it was a lovely labor. (this is coming from someone who hasn't had child yet, mind you.)

but this process really has been a lovely labor. a labor, no doubt, as each page was scoured by my eyes over and over again looking for mistakes, broken details, plot flow issues, spelling, capitalization, etc. etc. ETC. but through it all, i have absolutely enjoyed it. it's not supposed to be easy to write. it's supposed to be easy to read.

you, the reader, are supposed to be freed up, to feel like you're enjoying a break from hard work while you consume each page. and as a writer, i hope this book does that.

here are some pictures from that day last week. unedited, untamed. labor. love.

my babies arrived! (and they are on ASHLYNE.CO in the "shop" section if you want one.)