I Did It!

Hallelujah!

The trilogy I've been working on for a couple of years now is finally complete and with my editor. All three books. 953 pages. 215,184 words.

Yet ... now I miss the heroine, Gracie Hofner. We shared so much during all these months. I miss our talks. Her smile. It's as if my best friend has moved away. Or gone on a long vacation.

While she's gone, though, I have much to do. I've made a list of Gracie things to do in order to get the book ready for publication. I've made another list of things I've let slide that I need to do in real life.

It took a while, but I finally prioritized items on the lists into a workable order. I don't know if I'll complete everything on the lists, but I do want to get the most urgent items accomplished while Gracie is getting massaged into shape by my editor's skilled hands.

Here are three lines--one from each book--which may or may not be included in the final published versions by the time I'm really finished with them.

Gracie Micro Fiction
Cold! Cold!
Ow! Ow! Ow!
Oh, crap.

You didn't think I'd really tell you anything important yet, did you? I haven't even shared the titles of the trilogy or the first book.

One of the big items I want to accomplish this month is to get my newsletter started and rolled out. Actually, I'll be happy to get it started, even if it isn't live by the end of March. I feel as if I'm stumbling into a bat cave blindfolded and handcuffed.

I hope I'm able to laugh about that feeling in a few months.

April is right around the corner, and as usual, it's A to Z month. Have you participated before? Are you going to participate this year?

If you're on the fence about whether to sign up, I highly urge you to give it a try. It's well worth the effort you'll put into it. It's a ton of fun. Warning: Prepare and schedule all your posts ahead of time. You'll find out why.

I'm not participating again this year. A to Z and Gracie Brain are a bit at odds with each other. But I'm pretty sure I'm going to find some interesting topics out there I won't be able to resist.

Next month, a guest blogger will be here. I'll still be around, but I'll mostly be busy working on other things. I do hope you'll stop in and see what he's all about. I'll still be visiting you.

And ... on Monday, March 20, I will be part of a blog post for International Day of Happiness at The Pursuit of Happiness blog. I hope you'll drop by and read what I have to say.

Next Blog Date:
Day C - Monday, April 3
🙂 C is for Carol's Blog 🙂






Comments

Glad the trilogy is done! Congratulations.
I'm not doing the Challenge this year. Might even take some of April off. First time ever.
International Happiness Day - good to know.
Mason Canyon said…
Congratulations, my friend. Time to do the happy dance!! Sounds like you've still got a busy schedule. It'll be fun to see the post during the A to Z Challenge. Good to know about International Day of Happiness.
Bish Denham said…
Congratulations on finishing the trilogy!!! (notice the 3 exclamation points) Now on to the next stage.

Hope you don't miss Gracie too much. I'm sure she appreciates all the time you've spent with her.

L. Diane Wolfe said…
Woo-hoo! Congrats. I know what you mean by a bit of sadness. With a series, we spend so much time with those characters that it hurts to let them go.
H. R. Sinclair said…
Congratulations! That's great--and a whole lot of words.
Carol Kilgore said…
Alex - Thanks. I'm surprised you're not doing the A-Z. Enjoy April! This was the first I knew about the International Day of Happiness, too. A good thing, I think.

Mason - Thank you. The April craziness will happen without me :)

Karen - I've been seeing the anthology around. Wishing you much success with it.

Bish - Thanks. I'm surprised Gracie hasn't called me, LOL! Love the three exclamation points :)

Diane - Exactly!

H.R. - Yes. And thank you :)


Cherie Reich said…
Congrats on finishing your trilogy! I'm not participating in A-Z this year, but it was a lot of fun--and a bit tiring too--on the years I did participate.
VR Barkowski said…
Congrats on the trilogy! What a huge accomplishment!

I have done the A to Z in the past, but I won’t be participating this year. At the moment I’m focused on forcing myself write. It’s not writer’s block. The ideas are there, but perseverance and discipline are waning.

VR Barkowski


HUGE congratulations.
I have never joined the A-Z, but have read lots of fascinating takes on the theme.
Alex is not playing? Gob and smacked.
Nick Wilford said…
That's got to be a great feeling. Congrats! Yes, I'll be there for the Challenge this year. Time to get cracking on posts.
TPOHappiness said…
Congrats on the completion of your Trilogy!

Thanks again for your Q&A responses for the Days of Happiness celebrations on March 20th! I'm still excited!
Jemi Fraser said…
Congrats to you and Gracie!!! I bet the editor is in love with her by now :)

I won't be doing the AtoZ either, but I also highly recommend it - such a great experience if you can swing it!
Carol Kilgore said…
Cherie - I agree about tiring. My little brain wouldn't hold another drop of anything by the time it was over.

VR - My best advice to you is to take a little break. Disconnect from the internet for a week or so. Visit museums, take a cruise, walk in the woods - things that require movement but are relaxing at the same time. When you come back, start by working in 5, then 10, then 15 minute spurts. Make yourself sit there and write something. Even if all you write is 'my name is vr and i want to write but i don't want to sit here and have to do it'. If a week goes by and you still don't want to be there, try something else. I've had a spell or two like that, and that's what's worked for me. Also music. But the music has to be random. Like Pandora on shuffle or an Amazon playlist. I don't know why that is. And maybe that's just me.

EC - Gob and smacked here, too, EC :)

Nick - Have fun!

TPOH - Thanks! Looking forward to being on your blog.

Jemi - So far I love my editor. She gets the things I write. For me, that's huge.

Janie Junebug said…
Congratulations on the trilogy! No A to Z for me. I've never done it and doubt if I ever will.

Love,
Janie
Jan Christensen said…
Carol, I can feel your excitement all the way down on the Texas coast! I am so happy for you, and I'm sure you will get most or even all of the items on your to-do list accomplished. You are amazing!
Big high fives and congrats to you
Carol Kilgore said…
Janie - Thank you! It's fun, but work, too. Doesn't let up for 30 days.

Jan - Some of the items took/will take a lot of time. So I'm alternating. Making a little progress.

Jo-Anne - Thank you! I'll take all the support I can get :)
Mark said…
Congrats! That's a huge accomplishment:)
LD Masterson said…
Woo woo! Congratulations.

I'm still not brave enough to tackle the A-Z, especially this year because I'm up to my ears in my local writers group's mini-WriMo. But I do love reading as many participants' blogs as I can.

Hadn't heard about the International Day of Happiness.
Carol Kilgore said…
Mark - You totally know.

LD - Thanks. I learned when the blogger contacted me.
Julie Flanders said…
Hooray!! I can't wait to properly meet Gracie. :)

I'm not doing the A-Z this year - I had lots of fun doing it 4 times but I think it's in the past for me now. Always fun to see the themes everyone comes up with though.
Congrats on the 953 pages and 215,184 words!!!
AWESOME!
CONGRATULATIONS!!! You should be very proud of yourself; that's quite an accomplishment.

I did the A-Z one year, and it was a lot of fun, but I also enjoy taking the whole month of April away from blogging so I can concentrate on writing. IF I ever finish my trilogy... and the couple of other ideas I have for after that... I MAY dip my toes into the A-Z Challenge again. Maybe.
Unknown said…
Huge congrats on getting the trilogy done! I'm so impressed. I can't imagine writing a trilogy, much less a long one. But I have no money for an editor, so I have to keep lengths manageable, so poor little me can do the editing myself. I'm in the same place as you with the newsletter. That is, if you have a handful of sign-ups, have no idea what to write, and just want to let it slide until you have a big launch to publicize...in maybe a year or two. Have a great weekend!
Carol Kilgore said…
Julie - I can't wait to introduce you!

Michelle - Thank you :)

Susan - Thanks! I did A-Z once, too. Fun and exhausting all in one.

Lexa - The more I worked on it, the more I fretted over continuity. Even when I read it all in a short time frame. I had no plans to write a trilogy until I started writing the first book and realized the story was too long with too many complications. So the trilogy was born and I started over.

DMS said…
A big congratulations! Glad you can prioritize your lists of things to do now that your editor has the trilogy. So happy for you! :)

~Jess
Woooo!! Congrats! It's such a great feeling finishing a project, especially a long term project.
Congrats Carol! I can't wait to hear more about Gracie! I'm sure she'll be a triple threat filled with mystery, fun and adventure.

Julie
Carol Kilgore said…
Jess - My list, unfortunately, keeps growing.

Lynda - Yes! Fantastic feeling :)

Julie - I hope readers think so!
Cheers and congratulations! What an achievement (and what a word count). So now that one best friend is moving on to better things, time to make another best friend?

(Hmmm, that sounds so cold when put that way...)
Carol Kilgore said…
Beer - Doesn't it! I have to decide, but thank goodness I don't have to decide today :)
cleemckenzie said…
Huge congrats to you, Carol. I know what you mean about missing a character. It's as if an old friend has suddenly moved away when you send your book off.
Carol Kilgore said…
Lee - Yes! Glad to be done with the first part. Still miss her :)

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