148

Let's play another game. You be me.

You wake up at 5 am. Yes, you have to. You fire up the work computer and the internet computer. You check e-mail and wince. You load the WIP. Then you let yourself have 15 minutes to post your weblog entry and surf the web. This morning you check the USA Today bestseller list, not because you'll be on it, but because it's what you've done every Thursday morning for the last five years.

You're realistic. You've published 28 books and not one of them ever made it to a national bestseller list. Add a little resigned to the realistic. You're pretty sure you'll make another, more modest indy bestseller list this summer. You do well with the indies.

You page through the top 150 books in the country, taking in the names and genres, making a couple of notes to talk about trends with the agent, and then it happens. In this case, at the very bottom of the last page, right above Fern Michaels and Lemony Snicket, coming in at #148 :

If Angels Burn by Lynn Viehl

Now, do you scream and wake up the rest of the house, or do you go sit out on the porch and sip your morning tea and watch the sunrise and think?

Right. I'll put the kettle on.