So, I took about a week off from blog activities ... anything interesting happen while I was gone? :)

I've been checking in from time to time, and quickly tossed the Return of the Jacksons? post on line, but I mostly wanted to wait and collect my thoughts so that I could say a proper 'thank you' to the incredible outpouring of goodwill I've received in the past week.

I understand why most people are content to run productions quietly behind closed doors. People, as it turns out, aren't the pessimistic grumps the press would make us out to be. In fact, I'd say we're a society of optimists. Dangerous, terrifying optimists! The less I say about the book, the better people assume it's going to be -- a tailor-made volume that satisfies each reader's particular wants. Every behind-the-scenes glimpse I provide gives birth to a thousand extrapolations, each of which nudges the bar higher.

I love that this pushes me. I love that it keeps me focused and attentive. But boy, is it scary!

Releasing the cover was a big step. (Btw, technically that's the dustjacket, not the cover. Semantics!) I'm incredibly proud of it. And if you think it looks good on a screen, you should see it in person. But I had to brace myself and grit my teeth before posting -- because at that point, public perception is wrested from my hands. Much as history belongs to the victors, art belongs to its audience.

And this is where I say thank you. Thank you for your kindness, thank you for your compliments, and thank you for supporting something that's been in my life for so long -- in one incarnation or another -- that I feel its a part of me. I'm thrilled beyond words that the jacket has been so warmly received because, in a lot of ways, it represent the feel of the entire piece.

I'm going to cut myself short here -- who needs all this soggy sentimentality! But we're also at the beginning of a new journey now, and there's little point in looking backward at the moment.

The book is officially at the printers. It is coming off presses in large, poster-sized sheets as I type. An internal sales sheet is in the distributors' hands, and they're already meeting on it, deciding on avenues of publicity. We already have one book signing locked into the schedule with many more to come. The release dates are tentatively set, and will be announced with an upcoming press release. Pre-orders, as I think I've noted, will begin in July. Amazon's sample pages are already selected and are awaiting approval.

And there are concerts aplenty to come! If you'll look at the right sidebar, you'll notice I've added a number of upcoming performances. I can't say with absolute certainty which of those performances I'll be attending -- right now I have London (RAH), New York (RCMH), and the Howard Shore Festival in Lucerne locked in with more to come --- but the book should be a fixture at each and every.

This summer's schedule should be interesting. Next month will be pretty big for us as we make sure that the world-at-large knows we have this book on the horizon. We'll be pretty quiet in August, then September we'll start into the truly terrifying word of review copies and ads.

If I get nervous revealing materials here on my own blog, I can't imagine how that will feel!