The End!

My fake writing retreat was a huge success! Not only did I enjoy the Arizona sun, get a massage and facial, hike in the desert, help deaf and disabled children ride horses, and spend lovely evenings with my husband and his colleagues, but... drum roll please... I also finished my novel!

Hallelujah!

Seriously, this is an amazing feeling! One that I've only felt twice before. I have started plenty of novels, but I've only gotten to the end of three. Something happens as you get to those last few pages. Instead of hoping you'll finish, you know you'll finish. Instead of creating your characters and writing their story, it feels more like you are reading their story. You laugh and cry at their growth and silliness. You love them.

I hope you don't think that this book will be available at bookstores next month. That only happens in movies. I will spend the next few months revising this baby until I don't know how to make it any better. Then I'll send it to my agent, and she'll help me see the things I couldn't see on my own. I'll make it better still. And then we'll send it off into the big publishing world and some fabulous editor will help me see things my agent and I both missed. The book will get even better.

As my husband teases every time I spend 45 minutes blowing dry and straightening my hair, "It's such a process!"

It certainly is. I guess I like it.