Saying goodbye is never easy, especially to something you’ve spent more than a year with, and almost every day. If not physically every day, certainly mentally and emotionally.
I’m saying goodbye this week to my work-in-progress. Meaning, I’m ready to hand my manuscript off to my publisher, where it will eventually make its way through the editing, typesetting and proofreading process for a late 2018 publication date. My little bird has wings, and now it’s flying away.
It’s a strange feeling, letting go of this thing I’ve created from scratch. I’ve been able to keep it all to myself, in my head and my heart and on my computer up until now. It’s been entirely mine to fuss over, but no longer. Now it belongs to my publisher, and soon it will belong to my readers.
I’ll get a couple more cracks at the manuscript during the editing process, but otherwise, it must pretty much stand on its own now. Which means I get to second guess myself about whether I’ve written a good or even decent novel, whether the characters are interesting and will resonate with the reader, whether the plot is believable and page-turning. It’s like concocting a special dish in the kitchen, and while it tastes pretty good to you, the chef, you have no idea whether it will appeal to others. And you won’t know for many months or even years.
I’m resisting working myself into too many knots, though. I trust my editor, and I trust my experience (with 12 romance novels under my belt already).
In the coming weeks, I’ll feel a little bereft, a little nostalgic, but truthfully, I feel a little relieved too. And excited, because now I get to start another novel!
“I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” will be published by Bella Books this December.
