Done! (for now)

I wrote the last chapter of a book this morning: the very last chapter, page, sentence, and word.

Oh, it felt good!

I hadn't expected to finish so soon, but last night at my writing group, I discovered that Annie was heading out of town TOMORROW, so if I wanted to get copies of the full manuscript to all my critique group members in time for them to read it before our August 20-22 retreat, today was the day to make the huge push to get it done.

And I did. I was an unstoppable writing fiend!

Of course, after I get their comments, there will be a round of major revisions before I send it off to my editor for my August 31 deadline, and then I know there will at least one and probably two more rounds of major revisions after that. But still. As of this minute, the book is off my desk and delivered into the hands of my trusted writing friends (as soon as I finished printing it, I leapt into the car to drive it to their doorsteps).

I am on track to meet my deadline, the deadline that seemed so impossible just a short month ago. I have now decided that huge impossible tasks are just made up of lots and lots of smaller possible tasks. I did my daily small possible tasks, and now I have one glorious big impossible task to cross off my to-do list for August, and on August 3, no less.

I am going to celebrate right now by lying on my bed and reading a couple of chapters of the biography of Beatrix Potter that I began yesterday. Peter Rabbit and Jemina Puddleduck, here I come!