The Fire Bell Tango

The day after I sent my oft-rejected manuscript to the Gather Administrators, an e-mail arrived saying that the book had been recieved and the first chapter posted.  I rushed to the computer, dashed through the web, and there it was...Fire Bell in the Night in print!  It was glorious, as I'm sure 2700 other people can attest.  I was euphoric.  There it was, the culmination of all those hours, all that research, all those missed nights out, and all those lost hours of sleep.  My book in print! Well, there's only one thing I could do....  I went to my radio, cranked "A Beautiful Day" by U2 and I danced.  Horribly, jerkily, and arhythmically, I'm sure.  But man, did I dance.

About a week in, after recieving some very nice reviews, some bad ones, and more than one of the infamous "drive-by ones" I received a review that wowwed me.  The reader, Stephen Prosapio (later to be one of my fellow top 5 contestants and a good friend) got it.  I mean he got it!  All of it.  All the things I was trying to do: the imagery, the symbolism, the feeling.  Steve wrote me the single greatest review I have received before or since.  So, I printed it, ran to my wife, read it to her....and we jumped and sang and danced and laughed like Steve was the singular most important person in the publishing world.  At that moment, he was.

Two gut-wrenching rounds later, when I got the call from Gather, my breath hitched.  My pulse raced.  And I began to shake.  "Can you say that again," I repeated, ad nauseum, until I'm sure Victoria Fox thought it less shock and more hearing loss.  Truly, much of that phone call is lost.  I've managed to piece together the particulars from other subsequent conversations.  I don't remember anything but the absolute feeling of joy washing over me.  So after hanging up, there in my office parking lot, I jumped around like a three-year-old, hugging two co-workers and one gentleman I still don't know.

This experience has been unreal.  I have run the gamut of emotions and come out with a book contract from Simon and Schuster.  The Gather community has been there all the way, encouraging, voting, and making helpful suggestions. I owe more to you all than can be repaid.

So if you're in Borders in a few months, decide to pick up a copy of Fire Bell in the Night, and happen to see a bald 6'6" guy moving strangely through the aisles, don't worry.  That's just me....still dancing.