On Puppies and Publishing

October. Time for taking stock, looking back over the past year as winter looms on the horizon.

At this time two years ago I had just acquired a new puppy and had sent out my first batch of submissions into the Big Bad Publishing World. I remember it well. Shivering in the garden waiting for Theo to do his business and thinking about whether the post would bring any news. I had a fair share of highs and lows over the following few months.

Yesterday and today I sent off another pair of submissions. They're for the same book, albeit radically revised so it's probably dishonest to call it the same but the core story isn't altered, just the method of telling. The point is how different it feels two years on. The giddy sense of nervous anticipation has been replaced by a resigned pragmatism. I suppose that's progress. It doesn't do to be too emotionally attached to one's work; therein lies misery and heartbreak. The world doesn't love your book the way you do, and never will - if you're seeking validation you will be disappointed.

But I do miss that dewy-eyed innocence I lost somewhere along the way.

The puppy is now two years old and not the wide eyed, exuberant little bundle of licks and scratches he once was. He doesn't play as much as he did then, and he's more settled and sensible. He's grown up. And so have I.