I have lost count of how many times in the past three months that I have stated, "That's it, the book is done!". This time, however, I am really done. Really! The last few weeks have been one long tangle of proofreading and copy editing, correcting minutia like ensuring consistent casing after semi-colons, correct use of the emdash, proper formatting of ellipses ... It has seemed like  never-ending task, but the end result is a manuscript that is as solid and professional as I am capable of producing.

As of late Sunday night the book was released to publishing and it should show up on Amazon in the next few days. Last night I completed the Kindle conversion and will have that available on Amazon shortly as well. I have a small shipment of print copies on their way to me right now which should arrive by the end of next week. I am primed and ready to begin marketing and selling the book on this website in about ten days.

Another piece of the puzzle is the song - I went into the studio last week to record a professionally mastered and mixed version of Benjamin's Lullaby (A.K.A. All Is Well), and expect to hear the first mix later today. Assuming that, um, all is well, then I should have the final mastered version of the track in my hands in time for the official book launch. I am very excited about this song, not that I expect it to become any kind of a hit or to even sell any significant number of copies. It's just that where the book is about Ben, the song is actually a heartfelt love letter from me to Ben. I hope that people enjoy the book, I really do, but I know that Ben will never read it. It might sound a little maudlin, but I hope that the song is something that Ben will hold onto for years to come; Perhaps someday in the future when I am no longer here he will be able to still listen to me sing to him like I always have.

In other, less mushy news, I had to re-work the back cover and first page of the book at the last minute for a really amazing reason: I needed to add an enthusiastic pull-quote from New York Times best-selling author and internet god Cory Doctorow. Last June Cory had linked to my blog from BoingBoing.net and at the time I had a very brief Twitter exchange with him. When I completed the final draft of 3500 I sent him a short email to tell him about it, offering to send him an advance copy. He was kind enough to give me the mailing address for his post office box in London, and stressed that he might not ever actually read it. I mailed off the manuscript, and expected that I would never hear from him again.

Last Monday, out of the blue I got an email from him saying he had read the manuscript while on a plane from London to Seattle (he was just kicking off a lengthy book signing tour of North America to promote his new YA novel Homeland), and that he really enjoyed my book. He offered to write a promotional blurb for me, which now adorns the back cover and the teaser page of the book.

"Brimming with heart and tragedy overcome, this is a book that captures the tribulations of parenthood, the magic of Disney World, and the wonderful online communities that allow us to lend aid and comfort to strangers around the world."

Needless to say, I am both flattered and more than a little starstruck. He also mentioned 3500 in an interview with the Phoenix New Times and very nice things to say about it.

If you are not familiar with Cory Doctorow's work, I can enthusiastically recommend that you check out Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, his first novel, as well as pretty much anything else by him that you can get your hands on. He is an amazing author, and his good opinion of my work is particularly gratifying.

So that's it. The creative work is done, the mechanical process of making the book available to you is wrapping up in the next ten days, and now it is time to move on to marketing. I am thrilled, excited, a wee bit terrified, and, most of all, satisfied. It's been an amazing journey, and I am fascinated to see where it will go from here.

Thank you for joining me on the ride, now please lower your lap bar and keep your hands and feet inside the mine cart at all times. There will be some twists and turns ahead, possibly even a scary forest or two, but I am confident that there is also a white stallion and a shining castle before it is all over.