Beautiful mail.

Receiving the first copies of your own work in print is special.

Indescribably special.

Something that has been in my mind for months - even years, which I have worked on hour after hour. agonising over layout, colours, which images work best, repeatedly re-wording the simplest phrases - has miraculously gone from screen and imagination to reality.

Last week I received the proof copies of 'You know you have been in hospital too much when...' and 'You know you have Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS) when...'.

When I've been working on something so closely for so long it's hard to see it from the perspective of the finished article - I see the tweaks that need to be made and my dilemma over whether to add another 5% to the Cyan colour on the cover.

But when the proof copy arrives in bound, printed form... it's like christmas-come-early.

So I've made my final changes and approved the final files! The release date is 1st July 2013, but they can be advanced ordered through my website.

I already have orders waiting from UK, Australia and USA.

But the best bit? 

They do their job. Before my dance performance the other night (the first I've ever done) I used the PoTS book (proof copy) to explain my condition to another dancer so they wouldn't panic when I crashed out afterwards. It worked - and they chuckled through their lesson rather than getting scared by medical jargon. Then they read the hospital book, and actually laughed out loud.

Some days I think I have the best job in the world.