Ladies and Gentlemen, September 12th has come and gone. You know what that means, don’t you? The Space Between is now released, and climbing to the top of the bestseller charts!

Well, okay, it’s ranked on the bestseller charts. Somewhere . . .

But the point is, it’s finally published. And I can’t quite believe it.

I’m writing this on September 13th, the day after the release. I’m dadgum exhausted. Apparently my condition is not without precedent. My favorite publicist Danielle likens putting out a book to birthing a baby. This particular baby gestated for 12 years. No wonder I’m plumb tuckered out. (Not sure why I’m indulging in corny, outdated idioms, but plain old “tired” didn’t seem to cover it. And I just looked up the plural for “idiom” to be sure “idioms” is correct. It is, but did you know that the rare plural form, seldom used nowadays, is “idiomata” [which my spellcheck didn’t even recognize as a word {it recognized “spellcheck,” though!}]? Anyway, kind of like “stigmata.” Isn’t that cool??)

I digress. Yesterday was a day of highs and lows, with the highs supplied by the stream of congratulations from family and friends. Thank you all so much! I wouldn’t be writing this today if I didn’t have you in my corner. The best moments of the day came from Glen’s sister Denise, who’s flying in later this month to help us celebrate the book’s release. Denise revealed last night that she didn’t wait for me to present her copy in person when she arrives. Instead she ordered one from Amazon so she could read it again, then advertise it on the plane and in the airports on her way to Texas. Years ago, Denise was the first person to read the manuscript when it began to resemble what it is today, even before Katie and Glen did, and she’s been my tireless supporter ever since. You can see why this is the book’s dedication:

Today brought more joy, as my brother’s wife Jean sent me this incredible photo of what had just arrived in her mail:

Jean is the corporate accounting brain behind my new publishing company, and all the attendant permits and documentation that requires. (What an awakening that’s been. Luckily Jean has infinite patience with my cluelessness.) There are no better sisters-in-law than these two! I’m so grateful and blessed to have loved ones like this in my life.

So it’s clear why there have been such highs. The source of the lows is more complicated. Being tuckered is a factor, certainly, but there’s more to it than that. When I look at the book I see all of those 12 years, and I’m saddened when I think of the changes they’ve brought. There have been too many deaths; there has been no stasis. Time demands from us constant change, whether joyous or adverse, as its toll. Nothing ever stays the same. Whether or not time is an artificial construct, it’s our perception of it that matters, and time’s methods are heartless.

Then there’s the feeling that some large hand wielding a pair of pinking shears has scissored a hole out of the center of my life. Since I began writing The Space Between on September 1st, 2005, not one day has passed that the book hasn’t been in my thoughts or directly in my field of vision. And now at long last, I’ve let it go, sending it out into the world. On its own.

In a span of hours I went from birthing a baby to sending a child off to college. I’m surprised I could even get out of bed this morning. As it was, I spent some time in “Okay, now what?” mode, my sense of purpose unbalanced, requiring a dose of rigor. Happily, I’d resumed work on the sequel on Labor Day. Today, as soon as I stopped dwelling on the child that’s flown the nest and returned my focus to the one still in its infancy, balance was restored.

And good bubbly always helps. The evening of the 12th, Glen and I opened a bottle of very special champagne. We’d had it for a couple of years, holding on to it while we waited for the commensurate very special occasion to arise. We decided this occasion fit the bill.

To all of you. To The Space Between.