Finals week is over...without the tests

December 11, 2009 by thinkhappy

Last Monday I finished my manuscript for The Knowing and sent it off to the editor. That is HUGE! The Knowing is far longer and a completely different genre than Megan's Way. It's a paranormal mystery which will keep you turning page after glorious page (I hope). In any case, I no longer have 500 pages hovering over me, taunting me to complete them. But now what? At first I felt as though I was an ADHD child who could not concentrate on anything - sort of like after your finals are over, and all you want to do is dance, act crazy, and sleep - all at once!

I mourned the completion of the manuscript. What was I to do without the deadline looming? What would I think about every second that I wasn't writing? Then came the feeling of being lost. I lingered in that uncomfortable world for about six hours, before moving on to my project phase. Jumped head first into cleaning my office (found the floor and the shelves. They're wooden!), before shifting to my spend-time-with-the-ones-you-love phase. I've had a day of that, even celebrated Hanukkah, which was wonderful. But lo and behold, only five hours into the day I was craving the keyboard, the deadlines, and couldn't shake the feeling. My editor set me to task. She told me to work on my query letters for The Knowing, why wait until she's done to proceed? Now THAT felt good!

I stared at my keyboard for hours, writing, deleting, printing, thinking, and generally being tortured over how to write it. I researched queries, which I'd already done for about a year! And now I have a handful written and I'm still not satisfied.

What do I think of my editor for sending me down this painful path? I LOVE HER! Not only will writing and refining my query letter keep me mentally stimulated for the next two weeks, but she's given me something to dwell on, and hopefully enough time to get it right. But my mind can't help but get distracted...What comes after the query...My next story!

I can't wait to see what it is!

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