The Things Ahead

Am I about to tumble over the waterfall of life?  Eh, possibly.  Or it could be the greatest ride of my life.  It's all about perspective.  Today my friends is a big day.  I finished my novel.  Or rather I finished it the first time.  It's not edited.  It's not been fine tuned, but the last word of the last page was written this morning by my hand.  Let's take a moment of silence for the work that has consumed a large portion of my life for the last (I don't know how long.)  See, when I began the book I didn't mark the date.  I didn't say, "Today is the day I will begin my novel."  So I honestly don't know how long I've been writing.  A long damn time.  Too long.  Jackie Collins, I am not.  I am just a girl who didn't want to jinx the process by giving myself a starting date.  I can happily report that I have an ending date.

November 14, 2011

This date will be important to me.  In finishing my unnamed novel, I found it had a name.  The very last line of the epilogue and there it was.  It was exactly like magic.  I kept tossing around ideas in my head for what it would be called but nothing I came up with really felt right.  Close but not right.  Warm but not hot.  Anyhow, I found that in the end, the name came.  Lightening struck and it named itself.  Oh, and it's good too.  I'm really happy with the result.

That brings me to some of the recent issues I'm having in being an aspiring author.  People want to know what it's about.  I can understand that.  That would be the first question I would ask too.  I just don't know what to say.  Oh, don't worry, I know what it's about, I just don't know how to describe with minimal detail what it's about.  Understand?  To say it's a romance novel would be selling it short.  It's not a romance novel, though it is romantic.  It's like a perfect stranger asking me to describe my kid.  He's a six year old boy.  But it's not enough to say he's a six year old boy....because he is soooo much more than that.  He's funny, smart, energetic, interesting, kind, busy...omg where would it end?  He's a million little things that make up the most magical person in my life, AND, so is my book.  I've given life to the characters in the book much the same way that I've nurtured Little Man and become a Mama.

I worry a little about the things ahead.  There is work to be done.  There is thick skin to be developed when the first, second, and possibly fifteenth literary agent turns me down...but somewhere, someone will see the heart that I've placed in these characters, in this story.  I just want someone to see it the way I see it.  I want someone to read it and cry during the parts that made me cry when I wrote them.  My guts on paper....that is what I wish for someone to recognize.  Preferably a literary agent and a publishing company.  Anyhow, that is for later.  It is what lies ahead of me.  For now, I celebrate.  I post Cheers by Rihanna on my Facebook profile and I celebrate.  Every little accomplishment deserves some celebration.  Don't you think?

Make a nice day!