I hadn't even noticed it in the stack of mail that accumulated while I was gone for a few days at Christmas. It was an afterthought in the pile of Christmas cards and catalogs, and when I first saw it I thought it was a newsletter from the foundation set up by Robert Rogers after his wife and four children were killed in that flash flood on the Kansas Turnpike in 2003.
But when I opened it up tonight, I noticed it was the quarterly report on how the book we co-wrote, "Into the Deep," was doing on the sales charts. Oh, and there was a check, too.
My first-ever royalty check.
Wow.
Considering most books that are published never recoup their advances, I couldn't help but smile. It was humbling and exhilarating at the same time.
It's a modest sum by virtually any measure, but I'm still thrilled. As any author, actor or musician will tell you, a royalty check is a milestone moment.
I joked with Robert some time ago that I wasn't counting on much more from my first royalty check than the ability to buy a milkshake with it. I think I can afford a decent bottle of wine instead.
It'll be a moment to savor.....and also a moment to remember Melissa, Makenah, Zachary, Nicholas and Alenah --- as well as Al Larsen, who died in the flood as he went from car to car hoping to rescue stranded motorists.
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