About my afterword to The Man Who Sold the Moon/Orphans of the Sky

I mentioned in my blog yesterday that my author copies of this book had arrived and that seeing them made me happy.  (The book goes on sale generally on Sept. 3.)

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What I didn't say in that earlier entry is that I found the book waiting for me on Friday night, which was a nice after-work treat.  Upon seeing it, I offered to read the afterword to the small group of folks who were at my house then.  They accepted, so some time later, after dinner and a movie, I grabbed a copy of the book and read aloud the afterword.

That proved to be an extremely difficult task.

Much of the essay is a straightforward discussion of various aspects of the Heinlein stories that compose the two books this volume includes.  The very beginning, though, and the last several pages are extremely personal. 

I had a great deal of trouble finishing the reading.  I had to pause several times, choked up by what I had written.  By the time I ended, my face was wet, and I am not a man who cries.  (In my defense, I did not so much cry as leak.)  So, when Dave, in his comment on yesterday's post, says that it is a strong bit of work, I cannot argue with him, at least when it comes to how it hits me. 

I confess to being rather embarrassed at how uncomfortable the reading must have made the others present, so to them I must offer my apology.

I'm not sure if this entry will motivate people to seek out or to avoid the afterword, but if you want to read a piece of my writing that chokes me up, this is a fine place to start.