Hello Blogites,
I'm done, well, almost, but not quite yet, nearly, with my novel, This Thirtysomething Life: A Diary, which I know you're all waiting on with expectant pleasure.
It's been a lengthy process. First draft (very patchy, needed some plot changes and character changes). Second draft (better, but still too long and in need of some drastic cutting). Third draft (getting there). Fourth, fifth and sixth (almost there) and then finally, magic number seven (the final draft), which I just finished last week. I cut 5000 words from draft one to the final draft, added a character, took a couple out, took out a lot of the great asides (which I loved, but they unfortunately took away too much from the actual story) and I hope (oh, how I hope), created a really funny, readable, warm, and highly entertaining novel, which you're going to love (fingers, toes, and other unmentionables crossed). So, where am I now?
Well, I handed my work over to my trusty editor (the advantages of having a teacher as a wife with a keen eye for grammatical mistakes), who is plowing through it now with her eagle eyes, crossing things out, underlining things and generally adding a lot of red pen to my beloved book. Once she's done and I've gone over the changes, that's it. I know, seriously. It's like raising a child and finally packing them off to University with good wishes and a packed lunch. You really hope they do well, but it's out of your control. It's how I feel at the moment; like a proud parent. I grew-up with these characters, I helped shape them, I fell in love with them, I know them inside and out and now it's time to let go. It's hard.
So, here's to hoping. I hope that you're going to love it. I worry that you'll hate it, that you'll think it's juvenile, badly written, boring, not at all funny, a waste of your time, and the list goes on. I worry, but like a good parent, there's a time to let go. A time when you have to say, I did my best, I gave it my all and you know what, I did.
So, that's it. It's almost here. I'll have an actual release date very soon and then it's time for the big cigar, the bottle of champagne (probably a few beers actually) and time to sit back and let the world have my baby.
Blog soon x
