The End... finally!

Today I typed "The End" on the first draft of a novel.

Yay.

I got about five seconds of thrill, then it was time to move on.  The draft is done, but the book isn't finished yet.

So, I really meant to finish this draft a month ago.  But Annual Important Stuff got in the way, as it always does in Jan/Feb for lots of Australians.  So that pushed this deadline back a bit.

Then I got sick and didn't feel like doing much of anything, much less writing. Then I had a professional setback in the Day Job which left me listless for a few days until I got over it.

Then I buckled down, intent on getting the sucker done.  I knew what I had left to do.

Then my wrists started hurting (because I was using an itty bitty keyboard instead of my proper ergonomic keyboard. Duh).  Then Real Life insisted on enforcing it's schedule.  The need to go to the Day Job, to take offspring to stuff, to pick up said offspring, the need to sleep, and other inconveniences got in the way of finishing this draft When I Wanted It Done.

And always in the most Inconvenient Way Possible.  Yesterday, I had to stop fifty words shy (FIFTY WORDS!!) of writing The End.

So today, I got it done.  Yay.  As I exported the sucker so I could print it out and scrawl my editorial notes on a hardcopy, I noticed a whole lotta stuff that needs editing.  Frex, I start off with one character who pretty much gets forgotten.  I end up with quite another character.  I will merge the two.  The mainplot is actually two plots running not quite parallel, but rather skewampus.  I shall have to get a spirit level and even it up.

So yeah.  I've typed "The End" and now I will do nothing about it until Monday, when I shall print it up. Then the editing fun will begin.

Meanwhile, I may indulge myself in a short story about a mortician (one of many) whose job it is to ease people to the other side.  He does this by finding their Spirit Object (kind of like a cross between a Totem and a Horcrux).   I just need to figure out what to call this thing he finds. It needs a name.  I'm open to suggestions.

Meanwhile, as I'm between projects, go read someone else's work and leave a review somewhere, especially if it's an indie or a debut author.  They need love too.

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Her Grace is tired and wishes to go to bed.