Cue the Angel Choirs

Hal-le-lujah!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hal-le-lu-jah!

After weeks of hair-pulling, teeth-gnashing, endless pacing, and ceaseless whining, the major rewrite is done!

(Cue those angels again!)

I owe everyone a big thanks for your support (and for not slapping me for annoying the crap out of you with the teeth-gnashing, whining, etc.). To all the folks who held my hand, talked me down off the ledge, told me I could do it (and even told me to just shut up and do it), and listened to my rants—gracias. Muchas gracias.

My poor CP is covered up with chapters—once I got the big stuff done, the rest fell into place and the chapters just poured into her mailbox. She’s a champ, though, and she’s working her way through them in record time (Big Smooches!!). Barring any major issues she finds, I should have it ready to go to the next (final) reader in the next week or so, and off to New York shortly thereafter.

So I’m celebrating. Feel free to pop the top on some cyber-champagne and join me. Later, after the ms is on its way back to the editor, I’ll start questioning myself again—“Did I do what she wanted? Is it any good? She’s going to hate the changes. I didn’t change it enough. I added a cat—how stupid was that?” But today, my friends, we are simply celebrating the fact

I DID IT!

And I’m very proud of myself for that fact. I was afraid I wouldn’t figure out how to do it. I was afraid I wouldn’t like the book after I changed the plot around. Regardless of what happens, I’ve learned a lot about my writing and my abilities, and a little of what it takes to be a writer.

Sure, it will hurt if it’s rejected after all the angst I’ve put into it, but this is a major milestone in my career. I don’t suck. I have the ability to put together a decent story (and then take it apart and rearrange it). I may have some more work to do on my craft, but I’m at least on the right track. An editor told me she loves my voice, and she liked my book enough to ask me to rewrite it.

Life is good.

While I’ve got the choir handy and the bubbly is flowing, share your own milestone or personal success you've hit recently. Each milestone you reach in pursuit of your big goal—whatever your goal is right now (writing, career, weight loss, whatever)—should be celebrated. It makes you realize the next milestone is achievable as well.

And it gets you that much closer to the dream.

PC