Countdown

1:30am.

Wide awake.

I told Nancy I was going to sprawl out and chill around 8:30 last night and zone out to something on the squawk box, possibly pass out cold, and I suppose that’s what I get for thinking I’d sleep soundly through the entire night.

Crash early, wake early.

Par for course.

My mind just… won’t… allow me more than 5 hours of slumber.

I’m fine with that. Just something I deal with.

I find the middle of the night to be peaceful. A quiet home. The occupants are sleeping upstairs, and I’m down in the lair chair with roughly five hours before I have to head off to the jobby-job. I decided against the coffee this time around. While the sweet, sweet elixir of life is screaming at me to brew up a batch, a small part of me still believes I can return to the dream world… in a couple of hours… for at least a couple of hours.

Coffee might screw all that up.

After taking Zoey out for her midnight property patrol, I decided to write this short installment and get my peeps up to speed.

Well… I suppose the moment I’ve been waiting for, is finally here. Got the message yesterday.

The countdown begins.

Initially, my blood turned to ice. One of those moments where I wasn’t sure if I wanted to remain seated, or pace around and ponder.

So, I did both. I sat in my office chair at work, staring out the window for a time watching the few remaining leaves fall from the tree branches to the road, chewing the side of my thumbnail, lost in thought, knee bouncing under the desk, then, I pulled myself to standing and paced around the building. The reality of it all was setting in.

Based on the last message received, my cover art will be complete sometime today, or tomorrow. I’m literally on the edge of my seat overflowing with giddy anticipation and doing my best not to explode.

The completion of this project has been years in the making. Years.

And, quite possibly, some of the best years of my life.

A truly humbling experience. Educational. Emotional.

A lonely journey, but a trek through the wilderness I had to undertake. I can’t recall how many times I muttered under my breath, “Can you really do this?”

Why can’t you?

Good point.

The only thing stopping you, is you.

While the first part of the adventure is near it’s end, the work has only really just begun.

I’m unsure if both pieces of artwork are near completion, or just the art for the Surrender Game, and the Companion cover is coming a bit later. I’m taking it all one step at a time. I know he’s quite busy and I don’t want to poke and prod too much. I must allow the process to run it’s course, and ultimately work with the information as I get it.

I don’t have any deadlines, or time frames to adhere to, so I’m taking everything in strides; literally one day at a time.

Regardless if it’s today, sometime tomorrow, or this weekend, the final countdown has begun.

I still feel as though I have a lot to mull over, more reading to hammer through, double checking everything (again, for the 800th time), looking for anything which might put me over a barrel, hoping everything on the checklist is marked off…

I’m thinking a cover reveal might be on the agenda. If that’s something you want to see, prior to the release, just hit the like button, or leave a comment. I’ll provide what the audience wants.

And, I suppose that’s all in the tank for tonight.

Be safe out there. Be good to each other. Follow the dream. Chat soon.

Peace

Thank you for reading and joining me on my journey. Please subscribe in the provided area to receive a notification of new posts by email or feel free to follow me on Twitter @jeremymorang, or like my Facebook page to read up on a character’s journal entries, receive information about the Guardian War Chronicles, and other installments to come. My silly YouTube channel can be found here. Please give this a like if you like it, share with others to help spread the love, or leave a comment if you wish. See you at the next one.