Thank you, and I hope so. It's certainly good to have made a start.

Thanks. *grins madly*

Oh, yes! In fact, I used Doctor Who as an incentive to get the last bit done. It was really all-but-finished at 6:45, which was the latest time I knew I'd be able to leave the house, buy duck and white wine, and get back for 7:15. I knew I'd need to re-read the last few paragraphs to be really sure it was as I wanted it, and indeed I did add in a few more sentences after Who. But, basically, I was able to relax and enjoy the episode in the knowledge that I'd finished at last.

Oh, and I can't tell you how thrilled I was by the bit in the trailer where they found K-9! Roll on next Saturday! :)

Larks, yes! Green & Black's, no less. And I've just had duck for dinner. *grins, slightly bloatedly*

The Amazon entry has actually been up there for months. I've just kept very quiet about it until now. ;) Back when I knew perfectly well that I'd only got 4.5 chapters finished out of 7, and that one of the ones which remained was 50,000 words long by itself, I found it rather scary, and doubted Routledge's optimism. Now, I am damn proud of it!

Your celebratory assistance would indeed be very welcome. But I'm sure a delayed celebration will be just as enjoyable. :)

Thank you! :)

I certainly do! The real sense of achievement will come when I hand it over at the post office, I think. Up till then, there's still the possibility of fiddling with it some more, so I can't quite let it go. But even so, the weight of it has definitely lifted.

It will, of course, be appearing on the lecture list for my own course on Roman cities next year! I would personally recommend it to students everywhere. ;)

Thanks! :)

Thanks!

Re discounts, don't quote me on this, because I haven't read through all the relevant documentation properly yet to check where I stand. But I think I am able to purchase books from Routledge at a 30% discount once I become one of their published authors. And that should mean people can actually buy the book at a discounted price through me if they want to. Still £35, I'm afraid, but that's academic books for you... :(

My stance is that no-one should feel in the least bit obliged to buy the book just because they know me. But, y'know - if they'd like to, that would be great, and if I can help out by arranging a discount for them, I'm more than willing to do so.

Thank you!

Thanks!

I think the October date is probably a bit over-optimistic now, as they were originally assuming they'd have my manuscript 6 months ago. Early 2007 is more likely.

As for the price, yes, I'm afraid so. :( It's sad for me, because obviously I'd like my book to be accessible to a much wider range of people than that will make it. But that's what academic book prices are like. They know not that many people will want to buy the book at all, so they just sell a few copies at a high price.

However, as explained in my comment to dakegra above, I think I'll actually be able to get at least a few discounted copies for any friends who are interested. I'm not totally sure yet, and I'll post fuller details when I know. But, in practice, it shouldn't actually be necessary to buy it at full price from Amazon.

Thanks. It is kinda wow, isn't it? *beams*

Thank you! It certainly feels good.

And indeed - autographs for all!

Aww! Thanks. :)

Thanks, and excellent icon use!

I'm afraid Mithridates doesn't feature in my book even once. But that's OK, 'cos you'll already know all about him by the time you read mine!

As for American things - nothing particular I can think of, but thanks for the offer.