Eeeeeeek!!!!!!!!

Yes... that was me squealing with excitement!  

Last week I finally submitted my book to the printer and have been waiting on tenterhooks for the wire bound sample copy to arrive, which it did this afternoon.

I am beyond delighted with it, although I now have to go through it with a fine-toothed comb, searching for tiny errors which have eluded me on my laptop screen.  An initial cursory flick through has already revealed an unnecessary comma and a superfluous full stop, as well as an extra space in a sentence which looked fine on the screen, so I need to take my time and work slowly and methodically, even though my tummy is turning cartwheels at actually holding in my trembling hands the result of over a decade of false starts and self-recrimination.

I was worried about the photos, but they're mostly absolutely fine, although I will replace a few. All the images were taken in normal day-to-day working conditions in my workroom, not in a proper photographic studio setting, so I was concerned that they wouldn't pass muster but overall they are pretty good. 

I might tweak the front cover slightly too. 

Despite my desire to push ahead and get it signed off I'm going to take my time and actually enjoy the process, now that all the blood, sweat and tears of the actual creation have mercifully faded from memory.  

In the final fraught days before submitting it, I swore blind that I would never, ever, EVER do anything like it,  NEVER again.   However, while looking through the proof copy, I suddenly got the glimmer of an idea for a follow-up, going down a different and rather more scenic route.

I may have to give myself a stern talking-to...

Sneak preview.....

2020 has been a surprising year. 

During the trials and tribulations of the lockdown period I've discovered a whole new work ethic, freed from the constraints of appointments, shopping, socialising etc.  In common with most of my creative friends I've been acing work deadlines and multitasking like a demon.  Who knew that lockdown would prove so productive? 

My major achievement this year has been finally completing my book, which has been on my To Do list for the last decade. There have been no end of false starts and I've lost count of the number of times I've abandoned it as a lost cause.

But it's been niggling away at me, whispering 'finish me, finish me.....' and although I've mostly ignored its pleas, the opportunity presented by 2020 provided the perfect 'eye of the storm' environment to buckle down and get it done.

Now that it's finally finished I'm in an endless loop of checking and editing, double-checking and editing. 

No matter how many times I go through it, I'm still finding the odd rogue full stop, or an extra space between words, or an ugly hyphenation. I'm a bit of a pedant when it comes to grammar and punctuation and I will be mortified if any schoolgirl errors slip through.  However my over-familiarity with the text makes it really difficult to spot them.

So for the next few days I'm in editing/proofreading mode. However I just know that the nanosecond after I send the files off to the printers, I will notice a glaring mistake.  Thankfully I will receive a printed proof copy, which I'm going to have to go through with a fine toothed comb, on the hunt for inevitable flaws, but once I've made any amendments and signed off the final proof that's it.  I'm also aware that images will probably look different in print to how they do on my laptop screen.

Scary or what?

Anyway.... here's a sneak preview of the cover

I don't have any time to waste if I'm going to have the books delivered in time for the full unveiling of the website.  As soon as it's gone to the printers I don't have the luxury of resting on my laurels as I have loads to do to get the website properly up and running.

Not to mention the small matter of having been accepted to exhibit at the prestigious KDF Online Showcase at the end of next month, for which I must make a selection of new little dolls.

So I'd better get on and do another edit.... just in case.

Plan for the worst, hope for the best......

 Not entirely unexpectedly, the old Tower House Dolls website has disappeared in a puff of smoke.  We had hoped that it might remain online a a marker of our presence but the recent server upgrades completely annihilated it.

The end of an era.

However, there is no time to mourn and work continues on the new, improved website.  It's all fresh and shiny but the back end is really unfamiliar, and I'm proceeding on the basis of trial and error... trying things to see what works and what doesn't.  My learning curve is practically vertical and I'm way out of my comfort zone, also every time I learn something new it pushes old stuff out of my brain... but so far so good and progress is steady, albeit slow.

It's the first time I've been without a website in 25 years so I do feel a bit cast adrift, but hopefully it's only temporary.