I think I'm about to die, but I sent the final draft to my editor just now. Today's interminable writing slogfest was brought to you by caffeine (I overdosed by noon and felt queasy all afternoon), steak and wine (which would have been great, except my new best friend/host at my favorite French place sent me a small chocolate brownie for dessert, which I shouldn't have eaten, but it was delicious enough that I'll take the gluten hit), two naps, and a lot of pain. I was out the door by 8:45 this morning and wrote with Kathia until almost one. Then I took a couple of hours off to eat lunch, nap, talk to my parents, shower, and procrastinate. But I hit it again at 6:30 and worked until now, with a short break to take a nap at 9:45 that I somehow miraculously awoke from feeling more clear-headed (which never happens with ill-advised ten p.m. naps). And I somehow managed to write a decent new scene for near the end of the book while watching a couple make out for ninety minutes at Des Amis, which I found quite odd and just slightly offputting.
But the final draft is done!! This would be more exciting if I didn't know that I have another thirty hours of work to do in the next two weeks to research little bits of stuff that I hadn't looked up yet, do a deep copyedit of the second half (I neglected copyedit/word choice issues on the last half in the interest of getting it to the editor), proofread the whole thing, set it up for print and proofread it again, and write the dedication/acknowledgements/etc. Ugh. Still, I'm really happy with how this book is turning out - I think it might be my best yet. Or if it's not, I won't know it for another few weeks, when the reviews will begin and all my sunny optimism can be crushed by the interwebs.
Now, though, I desperately need to sleep, since I have to slog all day for the day job tomorrow. Goodnight!
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