The page proofs for “Make-Believe,” my story in Star Trek: Constellations, arrived today.
There's a part of me that keeps expecting Ashton Kutcher to come along and say, “Dude, you've been Punk'd!” Edits, copy-edits, contracts, now page proofs, and I just can't shake that feeling, that I haven't really sold this story, that it's all some great pratical joke on me. I know, it's strange to feel this way, to know deep down that I won't really believe I've sold this story until I see the book in print.
Okay, I'm just rambling. A thirteen hour day at the store and a couple of Guinnesses afterward will do that. Also, I really like the instrumental passage in “Fix You”–I could listen to that, just that, for forty minutes or more and be an gibbering emotional wreck at the end. (I can neither confirm nor deny that I have, in fact, done so.)
Anyway.
The page proofs. They look good, from the ten-minute readthrough I gave them. The one persistent capitalization issue I'd noted on the copy-edit's been fixed. Tomorrow I'll check a few word choice issues I had with the copy-edit that I wasn't tied to (and said as much at the time).
It's exciting to see my name in the original series font. I've always liked that font, and font whore that I am I have it installed on my computer, because a person can never have too many fonts. (Actually, yes you can. Windows gets pissy if you have more than five hundred installed fonts, and maxes out around seven hundred twenty. Yes, I've tested this. Yes, I've gone through and done mass font deletions just to feed my insane font habits. Yes, there should be a twelve-step program from people like me.)
Another marker along the road passed. Another mile closer to publication. And hopefully, no Ashton Kutcher.