Milestone

I did it! I typed “The End”. Granted, it’s at the end of my first draft. Book 1 in “The Beech Tree” series. It’s called, “Under the Beech Tree”. I did not realize just how exciting that would be! I mean, I typed “The End” in college with short stories I wrote for my fiction writer’s workshops. But, this was different. This…is me. This…is near and dear to my heart. This…is what I have wanted to do for most of my life. I have been living and loving and succeeding and failing…all for this. Every single thing has built me, and built my book. My life’s work. My very soul.

I’m editing now: adding, shifting, embellishing, changing some character arcs I thought I was pretty solid with. But, I love the changes, I love the deepening, adding the touches that will help the reader FEEL the emotion, the surroundings. And one of the things I have been most excited about is how the story develops and evolves, How the characters talk in my head and how they sometimes hijack the words and where I was trying to go. I’m giddy over every single character and all the emotions they feel.

I’m world-building, which is challenging and exciting. Creating rules and mythologies. And, best of all, very deep loves and friendships. I am giving my characters the things I KNOW exist, but am not likely to have here on Earth. They have it in their world. The “I’m not going anywhere” vibe will be woven throughout any work I do.

Because it’s not impossible. And neither is me, publishing my work. It will happen.