…it’s done.
It’s out
there, or will be soon. Life, Death and Iguanas is “in review” on the
KDP bookshelf. In 12 hours or so, the book will be available on amazon.com.
I’m
exhausted.
No, nothing
physical. Just emotional. Franny’s death was hard, but curiously public. There
was almost no moment when someone else wasn’t there. She stirred around, even
in her dying.
Recreating
her life and death—as much as I have, as well as I have—was numbingly private. Raf,
perhaps, was snoring in the bedroom, those Saturday mornings when I started the
book. Or working, those days after I was laid off. Taí was reading, ten islands
down the Antilles. Only Loquito, the cat, and I did it.
“You have a
lot of energy,” a therapist once told me.
Yeah?
Not enough
for this project! Which continued up to the finish line. I added a post yesterday
to the blook, explaining what I had been doing in the Wal-Mart Home Office
those seven years.
Seemed like
a reader might like to know….
And then
this morning, at 9:36, I hit the upload button.
And then,
predictably, went into worry mode.
I thought I
had uploaded the wrong cover!
Doña Taí,
in one supremely dyslexic moment, had sent me a revised cover—excellent in all
things except orthography. Which is to say, she misspelled my name!
Well, that’s
a trivial affair. Jack, my father, was also a little uncertain about it. He had
wanted “Mark” after Mark Twain. Franny wanted “Marc”. She prevailed—except in
Jack’s head. He once got it wrong three times on a plaque.
And Wal-Mart
had a hard time of it, too. In fact, the nameplate on my door said “Mark New
House” for seven years.
Did I care?
Nah, just
stick the money in the bank….
Well, in
twelve hours, we’ll know about that cover. No way to tell now.
So, the
world has a new book. It’s a curious thing, to click a button and send my life,
my Franny’s life, and the iguanas’ lives out into the world. Today, as I write,
I’m a little sad.
Another
milestone, another step forward, as she remains behind….
 |
| The cover with the misspelled name…. |
