A little-known fact about writing your first book: unless you inform others of your intention well in advance, you might find yourself in an awkward position.  Like, when you present your manuscript to your parents so they can read it.  A couple of months later, when you ask if they have read it, your dad will go, slightly annoyed, “no, I’m re-reading Martin’s books right now, so it’ll have to wait.”

Then, a further couple of months later, he’ll call you late at night to say, “great book, son, with some fantastic ideas!  I was totally hooked.  A page-turner; kept me up at night.  You know what this guy did?  He took historical elements from ancient Greece and created a space opera with them.”

And you’ll say, after a brief pause, “what guy?”

To which your dad will reply, in a confused voice, “why, whoever wrote this.  There was no name on the manuscript.”

Now, what I should have said, of course, is something along the lines of “it’s not really a space opera, dad, but more of a dark epic fantasy; a dystopian metaphysical thriller with strong sci-fi elements, where the heroes face tough moral dilemmas, discovering themselves in the process.”

But no-one talks to their dad this way, right?  So all I said, once I managed to stop laughing, was, “I wrote it, dad.  But I’m super glad you liked it even before you knew that.”