Just typed "the end"

I've been working on this project for almost four years now. And with the way I've written it, I've written a lot of "drafts", but this is only the second time that I've actually typed THE END.

So maybe it's not that special, but it certainly feels special to me.

This book is in a much better place than it was on the first completed draft. The characters feel more real, and they've been speaking quite loudly for quite a while now; now it feels like I'm telling their story, instead of the story I was trying to tell, if you know what I mean. I am happy with what I've written, and I'm at the point where it's time to get outside eyes on it.

Now, there's still a lot of work to do. The draft went just a smidge long for Contemporary YA, 104,542; I'll be working with a writer and attacking this thing with a blowtorch to pare it down to size.

But in the meantime? Onto the next project!

Thank you, all!

Thank you all!

I just got my feedback on said draft, as a part of the Nevada SCBWI Mentor Program. Basically, the first 150 pages were slow, and I need to redo the plot arc. And I have to rename my MC. Woohoo!

Back to the grindstone we go.

Oh, I spent all weekend drinking with writers, Tim. Especially a few top-shelf names.

And yes, I cried a little bit.

My mentor suggested that I rename my MC because she's a conservative pastor's daughter, and the name I'd given her (Isabelle) wasn't Biblical, while the name I'd given her sister (Sarah) was. I'd already been feeling the discrepancy between their two names, and was planning on changing the sister's. My mentor (a pastor's daughter herself), suggested I give my MC a more fitting name, instead.

So Isabelle is now Rachel. And I'll probably keep typing Isabelle for the next three months.