Getting much closer

Kate Allan, my co-author had to email the publicist of Hale about copies of The Lady Soldier for a talk she is giving at the Lincoln Book Festival. We had both somewhat thought it would be touch and go, and the book would not arrive until maybe 31 May, the planned publication date.
The email came back with a PS at the bottom. They are expecting the books in next week! Oh help. This means I should have them in my hot little hands by mid May at the latest.
It will then be a matter of trying to increase the sales of the book.The infamous word of mouth. Alexander McCall Smith's Number One Ladies Detective Agency took two years to become an overnight sensation.
At the moment, my only hope is to make the advance and that someone, some unknown person, likes it enough to write Kate and I, a letter.

In other news: the duck is still sitting on her eggs. The incubation period must be nearly at an end. I do hope her patience and fortitude are rewarded with at least one duckling. But in the back of my mind, I remember Jemima Puddleduck and the fact that she was a bad sitter. Is this little duck a bad sitter? Has she let the eggs grow cold when she went off for her bath?

I also face a quandry with my middle child. She has done very well on a Maths test and is about to be moved back up to the top set. She lost her place last year because although her SAT score was a 5, it was a low five. Her scores this time mean that she has done about 2 years work in 2 terms. Some of this must be down to her excellent teacher and the fact that she has made my daughter enthusiastic about maths again.. Now the teacher wants to move her up, but I know my middle does not get on with the top set maths teacher. She has succeeded beyond all expectation in this class -- so why argue with success? Except my middle wants the kudos that goes with being in the top set. I think I have to bow to her and the teacher's desire, but I can't help feeling uneasy.