GREAT Expectations

Today is July 21st, and Kate is overdue (so some say). At any rate, it is edging past Buckingham Palace's  "middle of July" due date for Kate and Prince William. I am amazed at the World Wide Web Frenzy on the arrival of this small babe. But not really. Even if it isn't worth the hype, the birth of Baby Cambridge - any birth - is exciting. The Royals are a story, even if you are not a Royal fan.

Matt was a week early, but Court was way overdue. I remember well the feelings of frustration when friends kept asking, "Are you STILL HERE?" "WHAT, NO BABY YET???" As if there was something I could actually DO about it. (Humorous now, but not so funny when I was THISSSSS BIG and couldn't see my toes.) And that "abuse" was just from my friends and family. Imagine what it would feel like if questions like that screamed at you from newspaper headlines all over the world and on every manner of social media! Not fun in the best of circumstances.

Just before my first baby was born, a friend who was already a mommy, warned me, "You know THIS is the easy part, right?" THIS being the state of pregnancy. No, I didn't know that. I couldn't conjure it up, couldn't look past the physical discomfort, to understand how it would feel to be so responsible and to have so much love for one little baby boy who didn't sleep through the night for two years. But I had great expectations and much anticipation and thought I was ready. I can relate this to Kate. Though she'll have a nanny and all manner of help and no financial worries, she'll still be mommy to a baby girl or boy (they say they don't know the gender yet). She'll still know what it feels like to fuss over her baby and wonder why he's crying or what should be done if he feels warm or ... any manner of things. And she'll have other things to contend with; like, for one, having to leave him with someone else while she goes off and does Royal Things for long stretches of time. Like, for another, having a camera living large in your face and no privacy. I imagine it feels like having two 24/7 jobs. But, royalty aside, Kate is still a young woman who is expecting her first child. She's awaiting the birth with great expectations (pun intended) and anticipation; she's nervous and she's happy. To misquote a beloved movie that's set in Kate's country, She's just a girl, loving a boy, and ... having her first baby.

And then there's Courtney and her career as an author. Great expectations, nervous anticipation, there, too. We're all awaiting the book birthday of "Faking Normal" on February 25th, 2014. It does feel a bit like giving birth. Combine the time spent penning the first draft, editing and revising, time spent pitching the book and acquiring the dream agent, more editing and revising, submission time and finally selling the manuscript to a publisher and More editing and revising. THEN it's all about Hurry Up and Wait. The road to publishing is a slow one - way longer than nine months - and people outside the book community rarely understand how long it takes or why. So you answer a lot of questions about WHEN it will be available on book shelves and you see incredibly amazed expressions appear on peoples' faces when they hear the answer (18 to 24 months from the sale date).

Basically, it is, "So, you've written a book and can I read it tomorrow?"

And every author has to wonder/worry how it's going to fare. Will it sell? Will people love it? Will it measure up to the hype? What if they hate it? (and along the way, WHAT am I going to write NEXT?) It's your baby and you love it; you want it to be perfect. I wonder if authors ever think that WRITING the book was the easy part (and it's hard to write a book) ... once they are touring, signing copies, and promoting book sales, even while they're starting the next novel. And worrying when the book will "sell through" and start paying royalties.

Soooo ... great expectations and great anticipation. Happiness and nerves. Writing books and having babies may be all too much alike.

Eventually, Kate will give birth, the internet and Twitter will heave a huge sigh of relief, and then we'll settle down to Watching the Royal Baby Grow.

And "Faking Normal" will be released to book stores all over the country. Finally.

Trust me on this one. It lives up to its hype.  It is worth the labor pains. You will want this book.