Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

My goal was to finish my book by the end of January. I would have easily done that if I had not taken the time to write that short story. As it is, I have three and a half scenes left to write.

And if this were a normal week I would be able to push myself and still get it done before the month ends Saturday night.

But as it turns out, I'm busy. I've got a couple of freelance jobs that are conspiring to take away any spare time I might otherwise spend writing. And I don't want to rush these final scenes because, as you might imagine, they are crucial. I want to get them just right.

I don't mind, though. I'm very happy with the short story I wrote and I have confidence it will be accepted for the anthology. And by the end of the first week in February, I will have a completed manuscript. It will be the end of a 15-month journey, but soon I will be able to say that I wrote a novel.

The journey won't be over, though. Not only will I need to go through the copy editing, formatting, designing, and everything else for the final product to see the light of day, but the story won't be finished. I will need to start in right away on the next book.

Bear with me. We're almost there. Remember my stack of thirty-one remaining index cards? I'm now down to three. It's frustrating not to have the time to knock it out this week, but it will soon be done.

In February.

Dang it.

So close.