Holy shit.
7 months.
136 Chapters and an Epilogue.
110,972 words.
And finally, after so many, many, many years of started and stopped attempts at a novel, I have finally, finally, FINALLY finished my first rough draft of a novel ever.
Plenty of work to go, but at this point, my characters came, saw, and did what they needed to do.
I can’t believe it.
There were so many times this year I thought this was a ridiculous waste of time. (I suppose the jury is still out on that.)
But I kept at it. And over time, the words added up.
Thank you, 3.5 readers. Your comments and clicks kept me going.
And thanks TA Henry. I grew to look forward to read your comments daily. Even during times when it sounded like you wanted to reach through the computer and slap me, I realized it was only because you cared.
Time to rest up a bit. Relax. Chill out. If you haven’t yet, please read it. Tell me what you think. What you like. What you don’t like.
I think I will let it sit for awhile and maybe even start a rough draft of Zombie Western #2 – Dead Man’s Hand (or possibly Undead Man’s Hand) before going back and rewriting the first draft.
Honestly, that was the hard part. Realizing along the way that I goofed, or things in the beginning would need to be changed, and avoiding the temptation to rewrite but rather, just imagine in my mind that what I needed to happen just happened, for if you start rewriting, you’ll rewrite forever, because by the end of the story, you might change your mind about what needs to happen a hundred times.
Thank you 3.5 readers. You are truly great 3.5 readers. I can’t wait to publish this and sell it on Amazon and make a cool $10.47 ($2.99 X 3.5 readers = time well spent.)
Bookshelf Battle 
Awesome! Congratulations, I am really happy for you! And I’m going to read the whole thing, now that’s completed. I started and got sidetracked with my own stuff. Anyway, yay! 🍾
It is a first that’s for sure
Congrats!! Guess I have some catching up to do, both with reading and with writing my own novel!
What are you working on
I’m working on a novel that I’ve been working on for 3 years lol. A fairy tale re-telling, it’s really just for practice but I want to finish it just to say I did.
Hmmm…why has it taken 3 years?
I think “because I am a lazy writer” is probably the most accurate answer 😉
Congratulations. I look forward to reading it.
Yeah you were all over it in the beginning. Got to catch up!
I know. I was rudely interrupted by silly things like work, my own writing, blog posts…silly stuff.
Thank you. I do care. And letting your novel “rise” in baking terms is a brilliant idea.
Soo what’d you think now that it’s over?
Haven’t read the last chapter and epilogue. Probably get to it tonight after kiddo goes to bed.
Sigh. The whole thing is probably unintelligible garbage that I wasted 7 months on.
And stay tuned for the sequel. I’ve got my second wind and I’m ready to jump in.