Ready to POP!

Thought for the day:  Publishing a book is like being pregnant. By the end, you're just ready to get that baby out!  [Carmen DeSousa]

Hi-ya. As my month's break from the blogosphere is coming to an end, I just had to take a sec to let y'all in on a secret.

Nope, I'm not pregnant. (That wouldn't be a secret... that would be a miracle!)

But I am ready to do a little bit of revealing... a teensy bit of a tease...

A person who publishes a book willfully appears before the populace with his pants down.  [Edna St. Vincent Millay]


Starting to get the picture?


Yep, my pants are starting to slip, because my novel is waiting in the wings, getting ready to go onstage to strut its stuff! (ohmigod ohmigod ohmigod)




You can't judge a book by its cover, but you sure can sell a bunch of books if you have a good one. [Jayce O'Neal}

Jeez, I sure hope O'Neal is right, because my book definitely has a great cover, thanks to the oh-so-talented Melissa Williams of mwcoverdesign. Wanta SEE? I sure hope so, because that's why I'm here before my leave of absence has officially ended... to do a (ta-DA!) cover reveal:

                                        WOW, huh? Didn't Melissa do an amazing job?

The book will be available in e-version and paperback before the end of May, but how would you like to win a FREE copy? FREE-FREE-FREE!!! I'll even put my John Hancock in it, if you win and choose the paperback version. (Heck, I might even sign my REAL name.)

Everyone who leaves a comment on my blog during the month of May will be eligible to win. One chance per comment, so the more times you comment, the more opportunities you'll have to win. And guess what? If you mention my book on YOUR blog, that'll earn you another TWO chances to win. The cats and I will share a glass of bubbly and draw the winner's name out of a hat at the end of the month. Sound good?

Oh.

I guess you wanta know what the book's about, huh? Sheesh, picky, picky, picky. Okeydoke...

Living the perfect life has always been easy peasy for Pearl Bryzinski, because she’s practically a pro at ignoring the negative and putting a positive spin on the facts, but it’s impossible for her to find anything positive about Daddy skipping town with that blue-haired floozy in a flashy brown Pinto. No matter how hard she tries, she can’t ignore the fact that he’s gone… or the fact that she’s becoming a drama queen who can sweat like a sumo wrestler doing push-ups in a sauna. It’s almost enough to suck the blush out of her rose-colored glasses. Whether she likes it or not, she’s gonna have to turn some of her wishbone into backbone.

Layer by layer, assumptions and misconceptions peel away, as Pearl learns to buck up in the face of reality, and to laugh at her imperfect… but not so bad… life. Supported by a down-to-earth husband who loves her with every blue-collar bone in his body, a mother who isn’t the self-centered witch Pearl imagined her to be, three terrific grown kids… okay, make that two terrific kids, and a Golden Boy who’s a far cry from 24-carat… and a bunch of wonderful wacky gal pals, Pearl comes to realize that her mixed bag of family and friends makes her life damned near perfect. Pearl being Pearl, she’ll never give up her rosy specs entirely, but learning to handle reality also means learning to deal with death.

YES, I AM excited. A teensy bit scared about having my pants ripped off in public... but very very excited.

I'll be back on Friday for real. This post is just an I-couldn't-wait jump-the-gun kinda thing. Friday's post  will have more substance. This one was... the wind. (Musta been that sauerkraut I ate...)

                              Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.

Life is good.

 [Images from Wikipedia, morguefile, and seniorark.]