How good does it feel to type “The End” on the rough draft of a manuscript you’ve been working on for, well, I’m not sure how long, but it’s been a while. Six months? Possibly 9? Something like that.
The answer is, pretty darn good.
When this happens, I celebrate. You’ve got to love writers. We tend to celebrate any kind of victory because we know nothing is ever truly finished. Thus every time we can definitively say something is “done”, we celebrate the crap out of hit. We ride that high for all it’s worth. Right up until we remember we’ve still got a bunch of other stuff to work on.
Anyway. I celebrated. With cake, because if there’s no cake, can we really call it a celebration? When I die and they call the service (if I have one) a celebration of life, there better be cake. That’s all I’m saying.
It felt amazing to type those two little words even though I know I’m in no way actually finished with the manuscript. The rough draft version came in at a little over 86,000 words and 43 chapters. If you have a passing acquaintance with math then, you’ll see, I like my chapters to be about 2,000 words. I don’t know why. In drafts of other books I’ve written, I think my chapters tend to be a little lighter in word count. That’s just the way it shook out for this book.
What is it? You ask. It’s a sequel. No, not that one. This is a sequel to an urban fantasy that hasn’t even come out yet but will be out soon–next February. That book is called Second Nature and I can’t wait to share it with you all. Mavis is a special character and I want you all to meet her. I think the book will be added to Net Galley at some point. When that happens, I’ll let you know.
Boudreau Blog 