The editing, re-editing, and re-re-editing process continues although we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel and hoping that the editing process will be winding down soon. A new proposed cover image is being designed, and we are tossing around ideas for a different sub-title. With a release  target date of April 2012, a publicity tour is being planned for the last three weeks of that month. 

I am finding that the idea of a looming book tour is a rather daunting prospect. To prepare for this, I have invented the "help, I've got a book tour in 7 months and need to get into media-friendly shape" diet. This is otherwise known as the BOOK TOUR DIET.

There are any number of diets out there, all with people who are happy to sell them to you. But you can have my BOOK TOUR DIET for free. This is a no-messing-about diet. It is simple, a little bit draconian, but effective. If diets are like the army, the BOOK TOUR DIET is like boot camp with a really strict sargeant. For your eating pleasure (or lack of it), here it is:

Fish or lean meat (2 or 3 times a day. Eggs are okay too, but easy on the frying oil.)  
Vegetables - all you want (raw or lightly cooked without cream sauces or heavy oils.)
Fruit (but try to limit yourself to no more than three pieces of fruit a day).
Cottage cheese or low fat youghurt (not more than once a day).
All the green tea you want. Fizzy water or lightly fruity water is okay, too.

That's it. That's the BOOK TOUR DIET. Like I said, it is very simple. And it has certainly cut down on my grocery bills. It does take some getting used to, but after about the thrid day, I found it wasn't that bad. You can try it for free, or tweak it here and there to suit your needs and see how you get on with it. Good luck!

The pre-publication process has been quite a trip. The book was selected for publication around December of 2010. Just choosing the title was a mammoth prospect that took months. We tried (but tossed out) at least 300 titles. For many nights I went to sleep with a dictionary in hand, hoping some charmed words would rise to the surface. They didn't. We finally settled on the title after I hounded people by taking a survey (link below), polling reactions to the top 20 choices that had not yet been tossed out. Hey, what can I say? Once a science nerd, always a science nerd.

Now that the cover has been designed, I am officially starting the book's website and blog. We still have a few more months to go before the first samples come off the press, but seeing the cover is a very good reality check that this book is indeed coming out. With winter right around the corner, spring isn't that far away.