The Other Side

And just like that, after a whirlwind few weeks of final edits and a learning curve with no end, I am officially an author! It feels pretty good. It feels good to be done, to have finished what I started. Now, when I hit bumps and walls as I write, I know I can do it... because I did it!

In truth, I took the longest way possible to get here. Ten years I've been working on this novel. Not ten years of work exactly, but on and off again, hobby-paced fiddling. Every time I picked up my little netbook to work, I would start by re-reading everything... which of course led to making changes... which led to having to re-think the entire story. Basically, I've learned all the right ways to NOT finish a book. (Check out the photo to see my little buddy... still going strong after all this time! Just don't ask him to load anything other than my writing software...)

So what now? After weeks of editing and publishing busywork, I'm so thrilled to be back to writing. I've got my goals set... 2000 words per day, factor in rewrites and sick days, plus a month for editing/formatting. I'm pretty confidant I can do this one in three months... but I guess time will tell!

Mostly, I'm just so happy to know, once and for all, that it is possible. I proved to myself that a writer can write a novel, publish that novel, and sell it to real people... all without any experience, help, or money spent. Yep, not a dime. Sure, my cover isn't spectacular and it could probably use an editors touch... but that will come in time. For now, I'm proud to say everything you see in that book is from me, to you, with love!