Where’s the fun in doing something right the first time? I’m asking honestly, because I don’t know how that feels. I can rarely get out of the house without returning for yet another item I forgot. It’s how I get my exercise.

Most recently, I had dinner with our son and his family. While our granddaughter did her homework and her mom prepared dinner, I plugged my Kindle and phone into the charger and left them on a chair. Everytime I glanced at them, I reminded myself to put them away, and then ignored my reminders.

We had a lively conversation during the delicious meal and I would have loved to stay longer, but the grandkids had school the next day and their parents had to get up early to work. So I left.

I’d driven about ten minutes when I reached for the phone to let Bill know I was on the way home. No phone. No Kindle, either, so I turned the car around. I couldn’t let the kids know I was coming back, so sure enough, when I pulled into their driveway, my son’s car was gone.

He was on his way to our house a half-hour away, or a one-hour round-trip. Thankfully, his wife was able to reach him and he turned around at the same place I did. I’m certain we passed each other along the road.

Because I didn’t do it right the first time, by packing up my electronics to take home, I had the pleasure of 1) seeing my family again and 2) experiencing the selfless, loving nature of my son and daughter-in-law once again. They’ve bailed me out more than a few times!

Anyone who has written a book knows that the first draft is only the beginning of a seemingly endless round of re-reading, re-writing, revising and editing. It should end when the book is finally published, shouldn’t it? Not in my case.

I finally published my eagerly-awaited second book in the Tetrasphere series, Triton’s Call. It was as perfect as I’d hoped; on its way to the number one best-seller spot. Right?

Wrong. I found a spelling error. So I corrected it and sent it through the process again. It was again available on Amazon in its perfectly corrected form. When the printed copy arrived, I excitedly opened it to read it as a READER, simply to enjoy the work of art it is.

Oh, no! I’ve misused the apostraphe! What a catastrophe! Grammar cop Patty broke the law! But that wasn’t the worst of it.Toward the end, during the most intense action, I felt as if someone in the book was foot-stomping annoyed with me. Who? Why?

I couldn’t put my finger on it, but the feeling wouldn’t go away. That night I couldn’t sleep, and sometime in the wee hours of the morning her face popped up in my mind and she was not happy with me.

I had forgotten to put one of my characters in the scene. Yipes!

So, within two weeks I’ve had three versions of my book for sale on Amazon. Those who pre-ordered Triton’s Call for Kindle will get the completely corrected version on October 5, including my now-happy character.

Those who ordered the printed version before the fully-corrected copy was available, make sure you keep it because it might be valuable someday when I’m on the New York Times bestseller list. Be sure to keep it someplace safe where the moths won’t eat it. It could be a very long wait.

If you did get that copy, you’ll know it when you run into one of the misused apostrophes. I have a list of the corrections available for you. Simply contact me on my website http://www.ptlperrin.org or email me at ptlperrin8@gmail.com and I’ll get it to you.

If, like me, you can’t seem to get anything right the first time, relax and enjoy the journey! Again and again…