urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:seanan_mcguire The Journal of Seanan McGuire Seanan McGuire 2010-04-20T21:30:14Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:seanan_mcguire:229224 2010-04-20T21:30:14Z 2010-04-20T21:30:14Z Jets Overhead, "George Harrison." Yes! I have the sign-off, and the second book in the Newsflesh trilogy, <i>Deadline</i>, 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&mdash;I made changes and edits to <i>Feed</i> after it had been turned in&mdash;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)<br /><br />Final book stats:<br /><br />149,142 words.<br />513 pages.<br />Twenty-seven chapters.<br /><br />I love finishing the process of finishing a book (and yes, that sentence is supposed to look like that; finishing things is <i>hard</i>). 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 <i>book</i>.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Yay.