Celebrating milestones under my control

Yesterday morning I reached the end of a good, solid draft of my YA mystery. Hallelujah!

I printed it out for my husband to read for plot. He hadn't read any of it before so he came to it with fresh eyes. He finished it last night while I went to my book group. He had some questions about the bad guy, which will help me decide what additional details I need to reveal. He also said he had an idea for the sequel, so I guess that means he thought it was decent.

My critique group will get copies tomorrow. These poor women have seen revisions of the first 5 or 6 chapters for about 2 years, but virtually nothing beyond that. At last they'll get to see what happens next.

I'm also trying to be patient about querying agents and waiting until the manuscript is really ready. I need a break from it before I reread it and revise. In the mean time, it's nice to read, read, read and start thinking about a couple of other projects.

Post-MFA blahs?

Not me. I came home from Vermont and dove right back into my mystery novel. Partly this was because I'd finally figured out how to get around the small hurdle that had presented itself around Christmas time and partly because all of my advisors want to know when it's done. Nothing like a little pressure.

So my objective is to finish a good solid draft and have copies made by Feb. 11 to distribute to my critique group. Last night I finished writing the climax. Even though I knew the broad strokes of the scenes, it was still fun to discover the little details of them along the way, living that first draft along with my character. I have 2 scenes left. I will have no problem meeting my self-imposed deadline.

I'm also going to be sending a chapter or two at a time to my little brother to read. He just joined the Army (as in he left for basic on Jan. 30). I told him that the one thing I found hard to bear in basic was not being able to read books or magazines. Letters were acceptable, however, and I gobbled those up. So I told him I'd send him my novel in pieces for something to read. He said that sounded like what J.R.R. Tolkien did with his son. I'd heard that too.

When I'm done with this, I have another novel ready to revise. I may try rewriting a chapter or two in 3rd person. I also have a new novel banging on the door, ready to come in.

So no blahs here.