When a Dream Becomes a Reality...

The Grace Writers

This is my finished manuscript...well...the first draft.

It's done. 

I'm no longer one of millions of people who say, "I'm writing a novel."

I'm one of the few who can declare, "I wrote a novel."

Where does it go from here?  God only knows.

I know what I need to do...

And I've taken the next step.

Six copies of this baby have gone to my beta readers.

They're judging it as I type.

They'll tell me if I have an ugly baby or a pretty baby or a baby that needs a little plastic surgery.

I have no doubt that it will need a little grammarplasty or maybe a passivity-ectomy.

One has already been returned to me. 

The feedback was good...very good actually.  I'm quite encouraged.

But along with the accolades, some suggestions...really good suggestions.  

So I've got work to do...and no doubt the other betas will have more fabulous critique to help my manuscript become polished and ready to present to agents.

I'm done writing the story, but the work of the book will continue.

I've read books about the process and how long and tedious and exhausting it is and maybe it's because this is my first novel (did you see what I did there...I'm pretty sure I've got a few more in me),

But I'm not tired of the work yet.  

I'm not tired of reading my story, (I've read it at least 3279 times).

I'm not tired of my characters.

Editing is still fun...

Revising is still enjoyable...

Bring it on.

I want my story to go out into the world and make friends of my readers.

First things first though...so now I wait...

I wait for my betas to return my manuscript and tell me if my baby was pretty, ugly or a little homely...hopefully nothing hours of editing can't fix.