A Quiet Sort of First Day

Launch Day Becomes Even Better

Out-takes from the Memorial Stones field guide. Goofing in front of the Boulder From the Hillside in Charlestown, NH

Yesterday was launch day, and in general, book launch days go something like this: I’ll fairly closely monitor social media engagement, answer questions, collect orders, make lists. There’s press to write, book stores and libraries to notify, copies to sign. That first day push of a new book, in this case mine and Little Bean’s More New Hampshire Rocks That Rock: Memorial Stones, is critical to moving the book out into the world.

But yesterday, something different. While we did spend the morning signing pre-sale copies, the day felt different. Less anxious. It was a day off of both school and work for all of us. Breakfast was lazy. Little Bean’s friend stopped by and we all climbed into the car and went to Sky Zone and the girls jumped until they could barely breath. We ate ramen for lunch and burritos for dinner. We read. We played piano. We barely stepped outside except to walk the dog. I did dishes. I cleaned the stove.

We sat on the couch with oranges and played Mine Craft. That was it. That was our launch day.

I may have made a few posts here and there. I have some evening time now as I write this to look over engagement and see how things are going.

But it’s ok. Our second book together is out and all is well. We feel good. The day was quiet, like a gift, like a vibe. Our book is out and the universe will read it and use it or not, but launch day was - for once - a celebration. We celebrated by jumping in the air as high as we could. We celebrated by digging into the digital ground as deep as we could.

And I tucked my family in and the house is now quiet and I think maybe I’m just going to put on my headphones and listen to music for a while. That seems like a good way to finish day one. Day two, who knows. That’s tomorrow.