The wonder of ending a draft

I feel like a hundred balloons are pulling me up, I feel relaxed, rested - I've just finished a draft. It's a wonderful feeling BUT just before I could really fall into a celebration with chocolate and a good book in the warmth, I got the line edits back for A baby's Bones. I changed the genre of the book from spooky, paranormal to crime, and it shows. there are thousands of changes. I'm grateful, my editor has done a fabulous job and made the book much, much better. But I can see it's going to be a lot of work. 

To make myself feel slightly better, I accepted all of her changes in one go, just to see what it looks like. Much the same as before, only clearer and better. I've found that being published has taught me more about writing than even the best course. So I will put the edit off until tomorrow and have a deadline of 4th December.  Hopefully it won't take that long, it's beautifully laid out in track changes and hundreds of comments, so all I have to do is fill in the blanks and consider the reader.

Which is such an important part of writing. I've managed to set a book on 'the Island' without mentioning the Isle of Wight until chapter 5 (oops) and not considered the US readers at all. I'm going to have to edit with an eye to explaining and describing for a reader from, maybe, Texas or Vermont. I love the idea that Sage and her book will travel much further afield than I will.  

Meanwhile, November is grey and raining and cold today, and December is just around the corner. I can't wait. We have done something that feels a bit radical - we've decided to stop giving (and receiving) presents this year. I don't need anything, and honestly, it's just a lot of worry and stress about what to buy not to mention the expense. We have a lot of kids, and they have partners, and now they're making babies. The last few years my main feeling has been relief that it's over. I don't want that any more. This year we are welcoming our lovely people, we will feast and play and catch up on all our news. The only presents will be for Lily, our one year old granddaughter. That feels right, and I'm glad we're reducing the stress for all our kids as well.

After the edits are done, I will be able to start a new project - which seems like a complete luxury. I love writing new stuff...