This past Friday, I lived and breathed one thought: Is that the UPS guy with my book?

It wasn’t, about 976 times throughout the day. But finally, on the 977th glance out the window, I saw the truck.

I restrained myself from tossing rose petals at the guy as he lugged my boxes into my house.

After three years of staring at a screen, I finally got to hold my novel in my hands

For the record, self-publishing is not an easy way out. I’ve had to do everything from writing the book, to paying for an editor, to coming up with the cover art concept, to arranging the interior formatting, to writing the back blurb. Over and over, I’ve done the emotional equivalent of flinging myself over the edge and hoping I was right about the soft landing at the bottom.

But I am pleased with the end result. It’s not flawless, but it will let me hand over my story to the world.

The Fellowship will be officially launched on November 13.

It will be available on ebook through Amazon, Nook, and a host of other sites that I’m still reading up on. Amazon also offers Print-On-Demand, allowing you to buy a physical copy which they will print, bind, and ship to you. (For anyone who ever looked at self-publishing in the 80s and 90s, when you had to order a run of 500 books or else, you know that this is practically magic.)

Meanwhile, I have copies on hand. I can autograph these, or inscribe them with something snarky or something inspirational. (I’m better at snarky.) I’m saving some for local book parties, but I’ll be giving interested readers chances at some copies. It’ll be fun! For me, at least.

53 days until launch, when you can step into the Fellowship — a community where nobody knows who Paul McCartney is, but can sing all nineteen verses of “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing” from memory; where nobody swears, except by referencing obscure Bible verses; and where everybody knows all the right answers — even if they’re actually wrong.

And you’ll meet Bekah, whose courage, integrity, and… well, obstinacy… and okay, a tendency to take dramatic stands… turns the church upside down.

It’s a good story. I can’t wait to share it with you.