I did It!

UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS is done! I'm so happy with it. 400 pages. A villain who gets what's coming to him. The required Happily Ever After. Two compelling secondary characters who will star in later books. A final battle that is fitting of the characters and the villain. I actually got tears in my eyes writing that and I'm not sure if the tears were for the hero and heroine, the villain or all three of them! Of course, I still have MORE revisions to do, but I can start those tomorrow. For now, I'll just bask in the glory of typing THE END!

Freedom???

Methinks me free. Me also thinks me had too much caffeine already this morning.

My 6th graders just finished reading Crash by Jerry Spinelli (about bullying) and they begged me to let them do a play about it. So, last Wednesday I finally agreed. Only problem is they want to do it for the next PTO meeting which is this coming Thursday. No problem. I gave myself the homework of writing the script that night (last Wednesday). While doing that, I started thinking about my struggle with the ending to my book. Once the play was written, I started jotting down more ideas and playing around with what I already have for my story. Today, I'm back to writing that pesky second to last chapter. I think I might be able to finish this book. I have no plans this weekend except continuing to cough up a lung. So, with my Rocky soundtrack playing I'm headng back to my book. I'll let you know what happens. Right this minute I'm off for another cup of tea.

The Book That NEVER Ends

That says it all, doesn't it? I trashed chapter 17 because it didn't work with these characters and now I have nowhere to go. I'm in the driver's seat without the keys. I just can't end this book. I'm not terribly upset. I'm just completely surprised that I truly have no way to end this. Or should I say I can't see a way to end it. I guess I need a break, but the kicker is I haven't even been working that hard on it. I've spent most of the last couple of weeks watching baseball at night. Oh well, I guess I could also pick up a book to actually READ instead of trying to write my own for a while. But for now, I'm going to concentrate on getting my 2 contest entries ready and mailed and then if I still don't have an ending I'll get typing on the next book in the series, the one I have 200 handritten pages from my summer vacation. It's just so comical that I can't finish this book because until this book I was writing 2 a year. This one is now at 1 year and 5 months. I just keep telling myself that it will end when it's supposed to end. Until then, I guess I'll just go watch some more baseball.

A Gutting

I've just finished revising chapter 16. I love it. The story is great. The end is near. I started reading chapter 17. I love it. It's great. The end is even closer. But...

Chapter 17 doesn't fit this book. It's an awesome chase scene and showdown between the heroine and the villain, but it can't be with these characters. I've been trying to fit it all together for days now, but it just can't be done. I've accepted that fact. I've removed that section from the manuscript and stuffed it in another folder to use later with someone else.

Now I've got to go give Grace and Ethan the ending they deserve.

Road Block

No, the manuscript, the REQUESTED manuscript will not be going out on the 21st. Or the 24th. Or the 25th, for that matter. I haven't even touched the manuscript since the weekend and here it is Thursday again. What have I been doing? Watching the Astros make it to the World Series. (YAY HOUSTON!!!!) And that's pretty much it. I have no excuses. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm hoping to work on it tonight and maybe finish tomorrow. Then Sunday I can get on to the next round of revisions. I'll let you know...

The End Is Near. Really.

Hello, hello! It's Friday. I've graded my last batch of 1st quarter papers, entered grades in the computer, and finished my lesson plans for next week. Now, I get to go back to work! I've been working every night this week on at least two chapters of UCOD and the book is coming along wonderfully! I LOVE it! My goal was to have this puppy in the mail to the editor by next Friday. One of my critique partners sent me some notes and I've decide it'll go out when it's ready. If it's next Friday, great. If it's a few days after that, fine. Bottom line, I certainly DON'T want it going out before it's ready! But, I'm soooooooo close! I've got two more chapters I'm supposed to be editing and expanding right now. I'll get to it.

I just had to think for a while on what my CP Deb had to say. It's funny though. One of the main things she pointed out is something that I usually don't/ can't fix until the very last draft. I have to see the entire story out before I can go back and make those changes. This is a stage in my rewriting process and it's ALWAYS the stage before the final stage. The point where all my character and plot arcs come together and connect to make an awesome story.

So, I'm going to finish my 3rd draft tonight and celebrate tomorrow by going to the Texas Longhorns game against Colorado. I'll think about my revisions a bit, but I won't do a thing tomorrow. Sunday I'll construct my cover letter and begin revising my synopsis. If I have time, I'll start the last round of revisions. I'm hoping one of my critique partners will be able to do a final read for me just before I print it for the priority envelope I'll send it in. The 21st, the 24th or the 25th. Whatever day it goes in the mail it doesn't matter as long as it's the best story it can possibly be at that moment.

Then it's on to the next one!

Happy Birthday To Me!

Hi! I'm another year older. I've had a good weekend. My Texas Longhorns beat the crap out of OU yesterday, my Patriots won today, my 2nd favorite baseball team (Houston Astros) won in the longest postseason game ever and are headed to the next round of the playoffs. I had a nice meal and a cake with family today. Went to a party with family yesterday and had good food, good drinks and good fun! Today we sent the 2nd cousin off to continue his journey. It was a sad time since we don't really know when we'll see him again, but it was WONDERFUL having him here.

But, now I need to get back to work. The school book fair is over (YAY!) and we made some great money for our school library. I have an exam to take in December that I need to start studying for. I have French lessons to prepare, report cards to do this week and parent conferences tomorrow. And of course, I have the book to finish! I'm so excited about getting back to the book. I'll do some tonight while I hopefully watch the Angels beat the crap out of the Yankees. Then tomorrow I can get back to a normal writing work schedule.