DION will end today!! (and then the fun begins)

     It's a strange feeling when you know you're about to end a book you've written. You're at the next to or the next to the next to last chapter; you can sense the closing right before you. It's a great deal like leaving a forest because when you go into one, you're not thinking about how you'll feel when you leave - you're thinking about what could be in the forest that holds your attention. When you leave, you think about the experience you just had, and right before you turn to see the last few trees, you know you're walking toward the clearing. 

    Today is the day that the book titled "Dion" will be finished in its preliminary phase. The 33 chapters will be written, and there will likely be around 79,000 words or so. The rest of the book, the next 6000-8000 words, will show up during the fluff and stuff phase; and that's the really fun part. I go through the bones of the book and add the flesh. I skim over the parts I know will go well and look for gaping holes. I look for opportunities to add the thoughts and notes I came up with along the way.

    Actually, before I even start a book, I have notes and thoughts written in a Word doc to pull up when I finish, in order to insert those thoughts and notes where they would best go. It's a method I've used on all of my books, and it helps to know that even when I'm finished writing the book, I'm not really finished writing it -- not quite.  There's about 1/11 of the book to go, usually. I've even been known to take out a paragraph or two in order to make things make more sense. So, the fluffing and stuffing could go in reverse as well.

    I'll wrap things up, and take two full chapters to do that. The last chapter will be the crowning chapter which will both reiterate the actions in the book, and tell the readers what they can envision for the characters in the future - it gives the reader an idea of what I have in store for those particular characters should I return to them at some point in another writing -- down the road, we'll say. This book, "Dion", shouldn't have a sequel, it's just a novel; nothing grand.

    I haven't dedicated it yet, and that bothers me. I don't really have anyone I want to dedicate it to -- I don't know that I've come across that problem yet, but there are a lot of people in my life who I can dedicate a book to, it's just I like to sort of match the book up to the person, and I really don't have anyone that stands out -- I'll have to think about it. I want it to be memorable, and I want the person to be excited about it at the same time. Thoughts....just thoughts.  I don't want to just pick someone -- you know, it needs to be genuine.

    I'll correct the book and put it up for print on 4/22, and then I'll have a copy sent to me before it's available for purchase. This will let me go through it as a book, finding more mistakes and making those corrections before it becomes available on May 7, 2025 -- Laura's birthday. (My gosh, she's going to be 36! That's incredibly old for a daughter.) 

Photo Credit:  Twitter.com  A Victorian-style crypt  (Elle's is even older)