Deadlines and Directions

For the next two weeks, SBS is on Spring Break. I always chuckle a little when writing or saying this as we are still very much in the throes of winter on Long Island. Although, yesterday the temperatures climbed into the 50s during the day so it actually felt a bit like spring.

On Deadlines:

I’m calling this first week of break,  “the Week of the Book.” Hard to believe that almost a year ago I signed a contract with Kalos Press for Everywhere God. The manuscript is finished and now I am formatting and tweaking it. Today’s focus is on the “Notes” section at the end of the book. This is the tedious part as attention to detail and format dictate the work. Thank goodness I have a husband who seems to know Chicago Manual of Style like the back of his hand! Brad also knows how to reassure me that the really hard part is done for now: the book is written.

I find myself fluctuating between moments of excitement and panic. Having worked on several publications, I know how small errors like to hide. You think you have everything covered, and then, Surprise! You find something and wonder how in the world you missed it.

On Directions:

My students would love to hear this story as I am fond of repeating the phrase, “follow the directions” often. Here’s one where I didn’t follow the directions. Yesterday, Brad was helping me with some formatting issues. We started to play around with the chapter titles and the epigraphs introducing each chapter. Before we knew it, we had formatted the titles and such for each chapter. I have read through the formatting guidelines for Kalos several times, but for whatever reason, didn’t stop to say, “I don’t think they want me to do this. This is for the design team to figure out.” We probably wasted close to two hours on this. Ugh. My one consolation is that in this process my book started to actually look like a book. I wanted to pinch myself several times and I know I had a silly grin on my face. Somehow seeing the title of each chapter centered on the page and the carefully chosen quotes underneath each title made this book seem real. Perhaps it wasn’t such a waste of time after all.

As I head into this final push to submit my manuscript, I am reminded of the cyclical nature of life. Sometimes we face intense seasons that if they were to last too long would crush us with their stress and pressure. At other times, we enjoy calmer seasons that allow us to savor and linger over the moments. I am thankful that whatever season of life I face, God’s presence is with me.