Friday, August 26, 2011

Endings

Last Saturday night, after the sun had already set, I sat in my backyard, in the gathering dark, and finished my book. No flashes of lightening, no voice from heaven "Well done, my good and faithful servant," no high fives -- a quiet, uneventful, ending. Ah yes, but while the first draft is indeed finished, the work has just begun. Now I begin the even harder work of editing, revising, rewriting, moving, cutting, keeping. On one level, I'm very excited. I have met my goal of finishing the first draft before school begins (August 31). Near the end, as I finished Joanna's story, my trip to England really paid off. Some of the places I visited play a large role in her story, and one of my side visits produced a new scene in the book.

This fall I hope to find the time, in the midst of teaching and committee work on campus, to do what's necessary to make the book presentable to an agent.

In the meantime, students will arrive in my classroom on Wednesday, ready and eager to learn . . . I hope. I am certainly ready and eager to teach!