Book-type update: "The Sands of Time"

I woke up this morning and realized 12 was the magic number. In 12 days, I have to have my book -- my first anthology -- to the printer. I'm ... excited-nervous-crazy-elated-scared. Really.

For those of you who haven't yet heard about the book (and haven't bothered to look at the content-weak front page of KatesInk), here's a rundown of my book, titled Short Attention Span Mysteries:

...BOOK-TYPE UPDATE FROM KATE...

Look for Short Attention Span Mysteries from Kerlak Publishing

-- set to hit stores April 2005.

52 stories of murder, mayhem, and madness, including:
Three stories with crime-solving squirrels.

Three where a victim falls off a cliff.

Two involving a decaying corpse. One involving well-preserved corpses.

Two people who intentionally wreck their cars.

And two double-crossers who find themselves double-crossed.

In addition, one story is told by a murderous horse.

One person inherits a haunted mansion; another inherits a postage stamp.

One person is murdered with a watermelon in the grocery store check-out line.

Important clues include yoga pants, light-up sneakers, or a piece of string.

Good candidates for murder: circus clowns, gay men, people who bite other people.

Ways to ingest poison: mushrooms, applesauce, alcohol, tea or chocolate cake.

And one story begins with the line: "Josh liked to poop."

Last night, I met with my publishing team and cover artist. We ate giant steaks and talked about how things were going. I know what the cover art is going to look like now, and we discussed this kamikaze timetable for the next 12 days.

I purposely keep my blog address under wraps (I mean, it's not a secret, but I don't publicize it on the front page of KatesInk.) Because of that, I'm quite sure very few-- if any-- of my 40+ authors have seen this blog. So I'm going to take a moment behind their backs to brag on them.

I was utterly amazed by the quality of the 52 stories I've chosen. My authors include high school and college students, nurses, lawyers, full-time writers, and retired folks. I've got multiple Pushcart Prize and Derringer nominees, as well as an Ron L. Hubbard Writers of The Future Contest winner and a Norumbega Fiction Awards winner. And that's just scratching the surface. The stories are as unique as their authors, and I'm proud to have worked with such a motley crew. :-)

I know I'm not the next Faulkner here. I mean, I don't even write on my own anymore, except for some poetry now and again. I'm just a nervous, sleepy editor who's young enough to still have big dreams ... and old enough to start fulfilling them. This is certainly one of those things that I can cross off my "Do Before I Die" list. (I can also cross off the "Have Crayola name a crayon after me" -- that happened last year.) What's left:

• Get my master's.
• Study Japanese tea culture.
• Play piano in Carnegie Hall.
• Learn how to do a cartwheel.
• Achieve a world record for ... something. I'm not picky.

But for now, it's off to work at the newspaper. Then back home to work on the book. I'm so swamped ... and yet I'm really having fun.