Seven weeks ago I was grizzling on this blog that maybe I was wasting my time and perhaps I should give up trying to get my novel published. Would you believe that less than four weeks later I received an offer of a contract for The Dagger of Dresnia from the good folk - no, not the good folk that live in the forest, but the good folk at Satalyte Publishing in Melbourne.

I did not allow myself to get excited: after all, the first publisher I approached, some nine or ten years ago now, went broke the following week, and it's mainly been a downhill slide since then. But today I received my contract back with publisher Stephen Ormsby's signature, so now I'm permitting myself to get a bit excited. Just a little bit, mind you. It's never too late for things to go wrong. Or too early.

If I look underneath my pessimism, though, I find that I have a good feeling about Satalyte. They are a start-up company, but already they have signed some fine writers, including fellow Perthite Bevan McGuiness, who is a well-repected professional of many years standing. What's more, Stephen Ormsby and his wife Marieke are enthusiastic about their new venture, and enthusiasm and skill are what's needed to keep a ball rolling once it's been bowled.

It is touching to see how supportive my friends are. Within a couple of hours of putting the news up on Facebook, I had nearly 150 comments and 'likes' on my announcement, and because my Facebook statuses turn into Tweets, I was getting congratulations on Twitter, too!  And at the Society of Editors meeting tonight, I was warmly congratulated all over again. I am much blessed in my friends, both on and off social media.

Now starts the hard yakka of getting the book into top shape before turning it loose in the wild. I know from already-published friends that finding a publisher is only the start of the journey. I hope The Dagger of Dresnia and I can walk the road ahead with our heads high and our feet firmly on the ground. With my lovely friends to cheer me on, I know we'll do just fine.