I have a book

It's done.

I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to write those words. Roja took a lot longer than it should have, in part because I put it aside to write short stories for a bit, but also because I was stumbling my way along in the dark as I wrote it. It isn't just making sure that I don't describe someone's eye color as brown on one page and blue on another, (although that did com up) it was making sure that the people stayed the same people through the whole thing. Because a reader has to assemble their own characters from the directions that the writer provides, we have to give directions that work. If you put a good coat of conservative flesh on the skeleton of a 'nuclear family' upbringing, you need to include a special attachment for that friend who's a confrontational, pot-smoking, liberal arts professor. If you don't, that friend won't fit.

So is it, Roja, any good? Well, if you ask me, I'll say it's damned good. Then again, I may be just a wee bit biased. My long-suffering wife is going to be my first test subject. She already endured me hiding up in my study until thirty minutes to midnight on new year's eve, when I came downstairs ready to bludgeon someone to death because as I was cleaning stuff off my printer, (I tend to use it as an extra shelf) I bumped something on my CPU, and my monitor went black. Be glad you weren't in the room with me just then.

After all that, I had to print it out in batches. I upped the font size to make it easier to read, which upped the number of pages. My poor printer hates me when I make it print a lot of pages at once, and it's kind of got me where it wants me, so I baby it.

On top of that, my poor wife read the first chapter, and found a lot of brackets and incomplete paragraphs that I hadn't noticed on my read-through. Last night, I finished the last of the fixes, and printed the last of the pages. I take comfort in the thought that if anyone tries to shoot my wife while she's proofreading my first book, all she has to to is hold up the manuscript. The damn thing is about six inches thick.

What's next? Well, I plan on going back to my old drill of writing something new while re-writing something else. I have short stories that have been collecting dust this whole time, and of course, it's time to look around for an agent and/or publishing house that will take Roja. I also won't be neglecting this blog like I did.

Whatever happens next, I'll still be writing. Thank you for reading.