Well, I am fast approaching the conclusion of my novel. The work that I have done on it the past few days has brought me to a point where I believe tomorrow will see me beginning the final chapter.

I can’t explain what a strange feeling this is; I have been thinking about and living with this character in my inner life for a year now, and as I draw close to finishing her story, I feel a mixture of great anticipation and great sadness. It’s not just that this novel has as its theme something of intrinsic sadness; it’s also that I will be sad, on some level, not to be writing her anymore.

It is also a time of no small amount of fear as well. A year is a long time to devote to one specific and treasured project. Now that I have created this “baby” of mine, I must subject her to the hands of strangers, who will poke into her every nook and cranny and pronounce her viable or not. She will be cut and pasted, reworked, edited, and molded, a process that every writer knows can be painful and bruising to the ego of the Creator, and that’s just finishing school, not the Show itself.

But I know that without these “surgeries”, this baby may never have the chance to live a life outside of her Creator’s mind, so I will willingly, though worriedly, subject her to the necessary procedures. (I’m already looking for the right doctor.)

I cannot say I’m not relieved, though, to be approaching the end. There have been many times over the past year that I thought I’d never get to this moment, but here I am, head down, wind roaring in my ears, fast approaching the end of the race. Let’s just hope that this time, there’s a place for me in the winner’s circle.

I will keep you posted.