what i want for my birthday

Finally, finally got my contract from Avalon Publishing/Seal Press for the essay in Under Her Skin; essentially agreeing that they can reprint it anywhere they like as long as they check with me first, and that I'm getting a massive hundred clams and two contributor's copies as renumeration. I'm still so giddy about the book having a cover and pages and everything that the money seems, well, secondary. Signed it and sent it back, ta-da, and then went to look on Amazon again. Mom had noted that the sales rank was in the 36,000 range.

It's actually somewhere around 35 thou now, which is impressive considering that it hasn't even come out yet. I find it hard to believe that the sales rank is entirely the result of my mother pre-ordering every available copy. Which means someone else is pre-ordering, too! I also noticed that the release date has moved to December 10, the day before my birthday, which seems like a good omen. Especially since it means that I am seeing publication in a national market before thirty-five, if only by twenty-four hours.

Then I went and looked at Mike's great book, Too Much of Nothing, and my review is still up. Which means that more people need to read it, and write their own reviews, and push me down! Or at least read it. Because it is good, and because I told you so.