Yes! Not only that—I met my deadline. I am amazed.

You know what’s weird? I can’t remember writing it. Wait, that’s not accurate. I do remember the experience of writing it. The overwhelming feelings—Lost-at-Sea-No-Horizon, Why-Oh-Why-Did-I-Say-Yes, It’s-Too-Big-I-Don’t-Have-the-Chops, Blah, Blah, Blah.

And at some point, finally Settling-Down-Focused—writing one word at a time, one after the other, to a timer. Hearing that ding and resetting the timer for another twenty-five minutes (the amount of time your brain does its best work before fatiguing). Again, and again, and again. Day after day after day. Strangely though, I can’t remember the actual writing.

Then, after a year and a half, from one workday to the next, the book was Done. Finished.

This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until it’s done. It’s that easy, and that hard. (Neil Gaimen)

When I read my words now, it’s as if someone else wrote them. They are no longer mine. The manuscript is outside of me and belongs to the world. “Just like having a baby!” my friend Cynthia said. Yes, exactly—I’ve birthed a book. I. Am. Amazed.

From this point forward, many people will contribute the many tasks that result in an actual book you can buy. A book you can hold in your hands with a nice cover, spine, and pages filled with my words. (Or an e-book you can download on your e-reader. Possibly even an audio book.) Right now, the manuscript is with the copy editor. When it comes back to me, that will be my last chance to make revisions.

After I send it back, others will create the index, the layout and the cover design. It will need a copyright and ISBN number. It will go to the printer and coder, and eventually, perhaps to you, dear Reader. To think all this will happen! Amazing.

What’s the book about? Therapists and clinicians: you know those pesky, unsettling disclosures patients drop on their way out the door which leave us flummoxed and uncertain what to do? Stress no more. I’ve written this book especially for you. Though anyone engaged in creative work will find gold nuggets liberally sprinkled throughout. Title: Doorknob Bombshells in Therapy: The Deadline, the Brain, and Why It Is Important to End on Time. To be published by W.W. Norton sometime in 2024.

In the meantime, if you are curious about what therapists and psychiatrists do (in addition to sitting, nodding, and looking compassionate), consider reading my clinical memoir spanning more than twenty-five years of working in the trenches, where nothing ever goes according to plan. Thank God flawless performance is not required for a therapist to be genuinely helpful. Practice, Practice, Practice: This Psychiatrist’s Life. Available on Amazon in print or Kindle. Currently free on KindleUnlimited. Suitable for gifting and wrapping fish.