Got the last of the updates in, made the necessary changes, and I think we’re good for a printout tomorrow…I’ll give it another look when my eyes aren’t so tired.

Oh wait. Just looked at it and realized I had to add something.

OK, done. My next-door neighbor sounds like he’s attempting to wrestle boxes in his living room. Where was I?

Yes! Once is done. It is 53,194 words. I keep looking at it, thinking you should be shorter, but I’m sort of out of areas to cut. Possibly the betas and editors will be helpful. I did a little cover art mockup after narrowing it down to several pieces from istockphoto…and then when this thing is off with the readers, I’ll be teaching myself formatting (ugh).

And then there’s the back copy. You know, the thing you read on the back of the book (or the inside cover, if it’s a hardback) that tells you what the story is about. My rough sentence, at the moment, is “Two agents protecting an exiled queen must discover why they feel like they know each other–and uncover a web of lies centuries in the making.”

My answer to “But what’s it about?” is “Past lives with a sci-fi twist.”

The actual paragraph will have to be somewhat more interesting. But I shall save that for later.

And then there’s taglines. The little sentences across the front of the book or movie poster, usually in small text somewhere near the title. I may forgo that entirely.

I do feel a bit peculiar, looking at it now. One side of me says You should be shorter while the other side thinks You should be so much more and wants to turn it into a 120,000-word epic. Which…no. This is where the real self-doubt kicks in, where things are otherwise done and I start wondering if maybe it really isn’t being All It Can Be. I think it’s a form of stalling myself; if I send it off into the world then I’ve…well, sent it off into the world.

In the meantime, I’m up way too late, and so I must rest.