CATCHING GENIUS IS LOOSE! by Deb Kristy

WELCOME TO PUB DAY!!!

I am so pleased to have you all here with me. For the curious, my schedule today looks something like this:

9:00 a.m. – Sleep in, allow husband to walk dog, then bring me Diet Coke in bed

10:00 a.m. – Kiss husband goodbye, check e-mail for all those FABULOUS congratulations e-mails

10:30 a.m. – Put on music that I love, Van Morrison and Lucinda Williams feel as though they’ll be perfect this morning. Get ready, leisurely, such a luxury these days.

11:30 a.m. – Pick up high-school friend, Montese, who has been gracious enough to agree to go to lunch and bookstore haunting with me. She will be patient, and she will be excited for me, and I am so pleased–and surprised at this pleasure– to be able to share this day with someone who knew me when I was still unformed and uncertain, though apparently she does not remember me that way. Perhaps we will have a glass of champagne at lunch.

4:30 p.m. – Reluctantly leave Montese, but grow excited again as I go home. There is no laundry to do, no yard work, no vacuuming. I will not unload a dishwasher, or hose off the patio. Instead, I will again put on music that I love– I’m thinking Elvis Costello, The Killers, and the White Stripes for the afternoon– and will relax on the patio and read a book that I’ve chosen simply because I WANT to read it.

5:30 p.m. – Get ready, leisurely again, for my husband to pick me up for dinner. He has a long day at work today, but he will leave a little early, because we have reservations at Ruth’s Chris for dinner at 7:00. I want the porterhouse (for 2, I can’t eat one by myself, even on such a special day!), the sweet potato casserole, and a rare glass of Caymus. I don’t care about the rest of the dinner; these are the things I want. Afterward, perhaps we will walk next door to the new Barnes & Noble and giggle over the New Paperbacks table.

9:30 p.m. – Arrive back home, put on more music I love — I’m thinking more Van, interspersed with some bluesy Eric Clapton and maybe a little Neil Young– and then explain to my husband how much his support means to me and how this would never…NEVER…have happened without him.

12:27 a.m. – Yep, I can time it down to the minute: I fall into bed.

So, that’s the plan anyway, and I think I can pull it off. I’ve already seen the book in two bookstores–Books-A-Million and Borders– so I think I’m sliding nicely into some sort of hazy satisfaction with it all right now. When I saw the book on the shelf I didn’t jump up and down, I didn’t scream or do a little dance. I think that perhaps my husband was a little worried, a little concerned that perhaps I’d grown too jaded over the years of working this dream to feel giddy and gleeful. But that’s not it.

Instead, what I feel is better. I see that book on the shelf or table, and I feel a deep, deep sense of satisfaction, of gratification and gratefulness. I feel hope. I feel calm and beyond petty worries for the moment. I feel…inevitable. Not invincible — I, of all people, know the odds of really striking it big — but as though I am exactly where I was always meant to be.

What joy there is in that, what innocent and pure pleasure.

Okay.

I’m published.

It’s right there.

I’m ready for whatever comes next.

P.S. Thank you. Thank you for being there with me. Thank you to those who comment and those who have become such a surprising source of support and camaraderie. And thank you to those who don’t comment, but who simply read. I am profoundly, more than you can imagine, grateful to you. I hope to be as much of a support for you as you have been for me. If I could reach out and frighten you with a nearly painful hug I would…right…NOW!

Thank you.

20 Replies to “CATCHING GENIUS IS LOOSE! by Deb Kristy”

  1. YAY! I wanted to be the first to congratulate you officially, and I am!

    I am so thrilled and excited for you and CATCHING GENIUS — I wish you every success! It’s a wonderful book and you’re a terrific writer – I know you’ll both do very well!

    Enjoy this next part – you’ve climbed to the top of the rollercoaster ride so now get ready for the thrill of your life!

  2. Congrats Kristy!! You’ve worked so hard so I hope that you really enjoy today =) You deserve it! It’s to bad that authors don’t get a book premiere the same way movies get a movie premiere.

  3. First your book made me teary and now your post. You are a wonderful writer and a thoroughly wonderful person deserving of all this success: a good husband, a lovely patio, wonderful friends, and now a published book.

    I will go to my bookstore today and buy it. I will go there and jump up and down, giddy for you, point it out to all of the shoppers, and tell them to take it to their patios with a glass of wine, take it to bed with their good husbands, and then pass it on to a wonderful friend. Then I’ll wait for that painful hug with open arms. Yay for Kristy!!!

  5. Thank you, Kristy. None of this amazing little Deb community would exist without you.

    I am so, so excited that your day has come and CATCHING GENIUS is out in the world. I know it will do well — it’s a beautiful book and everyone who opens it up and reads that first line will be hooked. Enjoy every moment of this day from that first sip of Diet Coke to the final strains of Van Morrison.

    Congratulations!!!!!!

  6. Kristy, you’re an insopiration! CATCHING GENIUS is an amazing book, moving, lkyrical. I hope this debut day brings you as much joy as you’ve given to all of us over the past months!
    xoxo

  10. According to your schedule, Kristy, Montese is toasting you (in reality) as we’re all doing the same (in our hearts). I echo Jennifer’s “thank you” for creating this wonderful dance, a genius of an idea and as inevitable as your personal and professional success. Congratulations and savor every single moment!*

    *Gee, wonder if you donned pearls today? 😉

  12. Oh, my dear, congrats, enjoy and soak it in. I love your schedule for the day–hope there are a few fabulous surprises tossed in. And yes, your description of what it’s like to actually see your book on that table–whoo boy, it’s perfect.

  13. Kristy, I’m so happy for you. This is a first of what will be many firsts as your career explodes, I know it. I can’t wait to read CATCHING GENIUS. Best wishes from Canada.

  15. Go, Kristy! Catching Genius is a great book (yes I snuck a read of the ARC you sent Jennifer), and I know you are going to have a great success — and that you’ve earned it! Enjoy every second of this momentous day — and thank YOU for making The Debutante Ball possible!

  17. I ADORE ALL YOU PEOPLE!!!!

    Having a fun day 😀 Will tell more, but now I’m in that GET READY for dinner thing and I’m late! ooooh, the fabulous, glamorous life of a published author!!!

  18. Congratulations, Kristy! I’m seeing your novel absolutely everywhere.

    (And I LOVE how you spent your day. Music and dancing. And then more music. What could be better?)

  20. You know, sap that I am, this post actually made me cry.

    It’s EXACTLY (exactly, exactly) the way I imagine I will feel when I see my book on the shelves.

    That not-giddy-but-deeply-grateful sense of satisfaction and, yes, hope.

    Thanks for giving me a glimpse.

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