A Milesone That's Both Great and Small

Well, there it is. I just uploaded the PDF of the whole book, from the title page to the last page of the index (which is page 580, if you're curious). That makes a total of 608 pages. A while back they had asked that I try to keep it to under 600 pages, but it also turns out that I have to have a multiple of 16 pages. So 608 it is. Unless there are any more last minute changes, this could be the file that the printer works from to do the first production run.

Each step of the way, it's been becoming more and more real. Not quite 2 years ago, I signed the contract for it. It was a really big thing that bordered on scary. At that time I got a schedule that had a breakdown of each chapter and the several phases of each. As I've sent in the various drafts and final versions of chapters, I've checked off the boxes in that original schedule. It's been taped to a bookshelf by my desk in my home office since just after Christmas 2005. And along the way, the number of chapters changed twice, so that original chart is kind of messy now. All the boxes have been checked for a couple of weeks, I think. It hardly seemed possible when they were all blank, and even when the first few checkmarks when on. But now, it's actually done. Apparently, it's due at the printer by 11/27, so it'll have time to age, like a fine wine... Of course, that also means it'll be at least another couple months before I can open the box to see the real thing in the flesh. Until then, it'll stay something that's still not entirely real. But it's a whole lot more than just a dream, which is where it was 2 years ago.

And yes, I still have to do the instructor's material. I have finally broken the ice and gotten a start. It's a little scary that I need to do 22 chapters worth before the book goes out in Jan. But once that's done, all I can do is sit back and hope that it meets people's needs.

Wow.