I checked at the front door several times last week to see if the package had arrived. Finally, on Friday morning, I heard a thump on the steps and looked out to see the brown UPS truck at the curb. My books were there.

My contract with History Press says I am to receive five free copies of my new book, Condemned for Love in Old Virginia.. Publication is still about three weeks away, so these are early arrivals.

It’s hard to describe the feeling that comes from opening the box and removing one of the books. That moment was four years in the making, four years of reading, writing and thinking, always thinking about the book. I am happy and proud to be able to say that I wrote a book.