My MS has gone back to the editor... and it's gone from my head. Over. Done with. History.

As soon as it left my hands, I paid two (only slightly overdue) bills, sorted out my phone, checked my post (tax disc due up shortly on my car) and bought a completely impractical pair of purple boots... I feel like a zombie returned to life!

I wonder if all writers have another project in mind when they finish a MS? What must Tolstoy have felt like when he put the final full stop to War and Peace if I feel so strange after finishing my little scribbles?

How do other writers cope with reaching the end of a book? Is it a cause for celebration or a sense of loss?

Of course, it's not quite done. There are still the next lot of edits to deal with, but I'm not thinking about that now... (although there is a little voice in my head asking whether I won't be disappointed if there isn't any more work to do on the MS. Can it really be finished? Is that it?)

Thank goodness I'm writing a series. Yes, I've already started rewriting the next book...

People commonly compare writing a book to giving birth. I never really understood the parallel, until now... After complications with my first pregnancy, I was told my second wouldn't be allowed to go beyond term. On my due date, I packed my overnight bag and dutifully went into hospital where the consultant decided everything was fine and we should let nature take its course. I picked up my bag and went home to wait.



Over the next two weeks, I received phone calls from almost everyone I knew:

"Hello, you're home!"
"Yes."
"What did you have?" and "How's the baby?"
"Er... I haven't had it yet... I'm still waiting."



Now that I've told everyone I know that my first book will be published in April, (as it appears on Amazon), my publisher has postponed publication until the summer. Apparently this happens all the time: delays with the designer, the editor, clashes with other publications, and goodness knows what else besides.



Coincidentally, the current publication date is... my second child's birthday!