Alive or dead, the truth won't rest.: seanan

Alive or dead, the truth won't rest.

Yes! I have the sign-off, and the second book in the Newsflesh trilogy, Deadline, has been sent safely off to my publisher, where it can be someone else's problem for a little while. (Note that this doesn't actually mean the book is in its final form, since Orbit has the right to request changes and edits—I made changes and edits to Feed after it had been turned in—but I become a much happier bunny after it's slammed down on my editor's virtual desk. That means I made my deadline. I win)

Final book stats:

149,142 words.
513 pages.
Twenty-seven chapters.

I love finishing the process of finishing a book (and yes, that sentence is supposed to look like that; finishing things is hard). It lets me fall in love all over again. I talk about writing books like it's building a house. Revisions are what happen when the house is flawed, and needs to be torn down and built back up again. But finishing is just going through and making it a showplace, ready to be shown off to the world. The heavy lifting is done, and suddenly the book...the book is just amazing all over again. It's a book.

If there's any point during the process where I am totally uncritical of myself, it's this moment, right here. Don't worry, it will pass.

Now I get to settle in and work on the third book in the trilogy, and then...then I'm done. All finished, no more effort, no more struggle, just done. I love these people. I've loved them for years. I hope that when you meet them, you'll love them, too. But for now, I'm turning it in.

Yay.

virtualvirtue

April 20 2010, 21:37:43 UTC 7 years ago

New comment

*buys you a virtual Diet Dr. Pepper in celebration*

seanan_mcguire

April 21 2010, 18:38:23 UTC 7 years ago

YAY!

I want a DDP...

gwynnega

April 20 2010, 22:10:05 UTC 7 years ago

Yaaaay!!

April 21 2010, 18:38:36 UTC 7 years ago

Glee.

rollick

April 20 2010, 22:16:52 UTC 7 years ago

I met them via ARC and I loved them. I'm really looking forward to "Deadline."

April 21 2010, 18:38:58 UTC 7 years ago

It was a lot of fun, and very different, for reasons that should be obvious to you.

aineotter

April 20 2010, 22:25:56 UTC 7 years ago

So, I'm sure you need things to distract you, but I'm taking this molecular virology class and the last class was too cool. I thought you might appreciate knowing that viruses have been genetically engineered by wasps.

April 21 2010, 18:40:01 UTC 7 years ago

OMG YAY!

tremblefrost

April 20 2010, 22:29:35 UTC 7 years ago

Huzzah for you! I can't wait for Feed to come out!

April 20 2010, 22:29:54 UTC 7 years ago

Jeesh, this is terrifyingly large. My bad. O__o

7 years ago

April 21 2010, 18:40:20 UTC 7 years ago

Applause! Awesome!

jawastew

April 20 2010, 23:19:24 UTC 7 years ago

OOooo! Congrats on making your deadline. ;)

April 21 2010, 18:40:44 UTC 7 years ago

Thank you!

archangelbeth

April 20 2010, 23:52:02 UTC 7 years ago

*has a moment of writer-jealousy over your word-count*

*cheers you anyway*

April 21 2010, 18:41:00 UTC 7 years ago

Oh, don't. These books are so long they hurt to write.

snowishness

April 21 2010, 02:41:40 UTC 7 years ago

Ooh.

I'm about a quarter of the way through the ARC of Feed (which arrived yesterday, and I might have scared my mail person when I realized what it was), and it's good and wonderful and I love it so much so far.

April 21 2010, 18:41:17 UTC 7 years ago

Hooray!

dormouse_in_tea

April 21 2010, 04:13:14 UTC 7 years ago

I am very much looking forward to getting Feed and trying it. NONE of the things you describe it as being like a cross of are things I have ever felt any need to consume, but it just sounds interesting.