Guess what?

I figure it's about time for a change of subject, so I'll tell you something that actually happened a couple of weeks ago...I've finally finished my revisions!! And I realize this is totally anticlimactic, as my original self-imposed deadline was like how many months ago? But it's nice to be done.

I think I've said it before, but that deadline wasn't realistic. I had made it during a very hectic time at work when I had to stay late a lot. One of my friends even warned me that it would be like burning the candle at both ends, and she was totally right. So I decided to just chill out, take my time and finish at my own pace…and I did.

But here's the thing. Until the day an editor tells me, "You're finished," I'm not really done. There are any number of reasons why I might have to go back to it. But I'm at the point where I'm through with my evening sessions at Starbucks and am finally ready to start the next stage in the publishing process- submitting (to agents, at least to start with).

A word of warning to anyone thinking of publishing a book: your patience will be tried in ways you never thought possible. Even if (and this is a HUGE if) I do get lucky and find an agent right away who in turn sells my novel right away, it could easily be another year until you see it at a book store. It's a very slow moving process.

I was so naïve at the beginning of writing this book. My thought pattern was something like, "So cool, I'm going to write a novel, get it published, and begin my exciting career as an author. It's gonna be great!"

But that's not exactly what happened.

I've gone through so much with this manuscript- wrote a first draft, showed it to some people, revised it, submitted it to two agents who in turn rejected it, took a break, considered giving up, spent over a year going to a writers' group and working on this final draft…and that's leaving out a lot of details. Just thinking about it exhausts me. You could say I've been humbled, many times over.

I hope this doesn't sound discouraging. I'm obviously a huge believer in people going for their dreams. But sometimes dreams take work. Major amounts of it. And it's not only the work itself, you also need the said patience, persistence...and a thick skin helps.

Bear in mind I'm speaking of what I've learned from my own experience- that doesn't mean it'll be yours. You could be really talented and really lucky, and get the easy ride I had assumed I'd get. Anything's possible.

I'm going on, aren't I? I'm sorry. This blog is supposed to be for writers and non-writers alike, and this is a total writers' post. I guess I just needed to get all these thoughts out. But from now on I will only talk to you about my latest venture into the world of publishing if something major happens.

Have a good week, everyone...