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Mr. Darden, it's a boy...

Just in time for my event at Georgetown tomorrow night, LAZARUS has arrived hot off the press.

I was getting concerned. I didn't want to have a "Meet the Author" event without having my novel there with me. It was bad enough that I was too sick to attend the event at American back in February -- I HAD to have Lazarus there with me tomorrow.

I talked to Central Plains on Tuesday, and they assured me that they could overnight the books to me, since they were going to be bound that very same day. But still, anything could happen, so I would believe it when I saw it.

Incidentally, my relationship with him seemed to have reached a turning point of some sort. I felt a lot more comfortable lately confiding in him, talking to him like we used to. He was sharing in my frustration, my fears, and my sadness. Somehow, he was anchoring me -- even though for the past few days I felt like everything was spiraling out of control. He wasn't just listening to me, though. He was listening and hearing. He really cares. If I were him, I don't know if I would put up with me!

We talked a lot yesterday, on IM and on the phone, well into the evening. He told me that I would cry when I feld the book for the first time. I was like yeah right, not me. On IM this morning, he seemed to just know that the books would come today, even though I hadn't received a final invoice from Central Plains yet. I hadn't even gotten a phone call from my customer service representative letting me know the books had been sent. So I was assuming that I would get the books tomorrow.

As it turned out, I didn't get a call to substitute teach today, so I was at home catching up on emails, maybe watching a little TV, and chatting on IM. I'd been wound up so tightly that I didn't need to do too much with Lazarus, lest it overwhelm me.

I think it must have been 12:30 or so when I decided to go upstairs and call Central Plains -- again. I had gotten tired of having to chase after them for information on the production of my novel, but I'd get answers no other way. I brought my rep's number upstairs with me and turned the TV on to The Young & The Restless.

I noticed that the mail carrier had already come. Nothing major was on the floor, just a catalogue and a few bills. I wasn't sure whether Central Plains was using the postal service, UPS, FedEx, or what. Another good reason to call and find out.

But I was hungry, so I grabbed some Chex Mix and began eating them straight out of the bag. I looked at the phone and picked it up, with every intention of dialing. But something told me to turn around....

Outside of my house, nearly perfectly framed by the living room window, was a FedEx truck.

This ain't real, I thought. Since everything in my life can be summarized by either The Color Purple or School Daze, as I recounted to my mentor later, seeing that FedEx truck felt like how Celie must have felt when Nettie finally came back. She knew what was in that car, but she didn't quite believe it. After all that time, Nettie was home. And for me, Lazarus was home. Adrian, Savion, Nina, Beta Chi Phi...they were home.

But the FedEx driver was making a liar out of me as I saw him come out of the truck and walk up the path to my front door. He was about ten steps away when I opened the front door.

"Rashid Darden?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's me?" I said.

"Okay great, got a package for you. Just wanted to make sure you were home first before I carried these heavy boxes to the door."

He carried the boxes to the stoop and I slid each one into the house. I signed for them and the driver was off. What a nice man he was....

I saw that the boxes were indeed from Central Plains, and they were too heavy to be anything but books. I found some scissors and carefully -- very carefully -- opened the box.

Staring back at me from inside the box were four perfect books representing the top of a stack of 32 perfect books.

I didn't cry....but I sho' did get right misty, Miss Celie.

I can't really describe how happy I was at that moment. I am kind of glad I was by myself because I was acting a damn fool, running around the house with the book in my hand, wondering who I was going to tell first.

Well...there was no question...

I got back on IM and asked him to call me at home. Once again, he was there for me, this time to share in my joy. He was so happy for me, so proud. I was glad to share in this moment with him. There will never be another moment like this one -- my first book, my baby. Everything was all there...not fingers and toes, but the cover, spine, pages...it was perfect to me. And again, I'm so glad I had someone like him to share that moment with.

Next, I got in contact with my mentor....man. To speak with someone who knows exactly how I feel. He is going to see me tomorrow night, too. I also hear that Dr. Mitchell is going to be there, and I haven't seen her in quite a while, at least since the 2004 graduation, and that was only for a moment. And dang, she has a book or two out as well!

Wow, I'm in some kind of elite club now...this is crazy.

I'm a lot less nervous about tomorrow night. I got a call from Rashad, my APO brother who is helping to promote the event. I don't know how he is able to do so much and know so many people. He's like my little brother who I know is going to be way richer and more successful than me one day, and I'm okay with that. :-)

I picked out my selection that I'm going to read tomorrow night. I will probably pick a few more, but it's kind of tough because I don't want to give away too much of the novel for those who haven't read it.

For the aspiring self-published authors, here is a word of advice: give yourself plenty of wiggle room in your publishing budget. The final invoice is threatening to kick my ass. Of course, having books overnighted didn't help, but it was necessary. No...the big, hidden cost was two-fold: residential delivery and overruns.

Why didn't anyone ever tell me about overruns! lol I actually knew about overruns through my contract and maybe a little bit in the Self-Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter, but it never clicked in my head that hey, if I get overruns, I have to pay for them. I always assumed that I would underrun and save money. C'est la vie, we're going to work it out.

I only have 64 books in my possession so far. This batch will be dedicated to the event at Georgetown tomorrow night. I would love to start sending out novels to those that pre-ordered, but right now I can only accommodate the pre-orders from Georgetown. After I distribute those, and perhaps sell more at the event, I will begin sending out the rest on Friday. Hey, pray that I sell out those 64 though! The rest of the books will be sent as soon as the final invoice is settled, which will be tomorrow or Friday. By freight, the books will take about four days to make it to DC -- just in time for "A Toast to Lazarus" at Takoma Station.

Things are really working out! I have a book, my Georgetown orders will have their books, and everyone else who pre-ordered should have theirs next week.

Now let's all collectively....exhale.

Posted by Rashid on April 20, 2005 8:45 PM

Comments

Commented by Trent on April 21, 2005 2:02 AM

Commented by kristal on April 21, 2005 9:02 AM

Commented by Crystal on April 21, 2005 10:58 AM

Commented by Frederick Smith on April 21, 2005 11:36 AM

Commented by Angelyn Mitchell on April 29, 2005 12:34 AM

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