24 Hours

I went a little crazy yesterday; I'm surprised I didn't tell strangers that I finished a book... I know, that SOUNDS egotistic, but... hmm...

Ok, I can't think of an analogy, BUT I can assure you that I'm not .... THAT... egotistic. I'm just really really REALLY excited.

Really.

Now I'm trying to gather my wits and reconnect with reality. I have to do mondo editing, I have another two to four books in the series planned (vaguely, at best) and I'm about to plunge into the least fun part of the writing business; querying.

From the blogs I've been reading, and all you have to do is click on my profile to see how many writing blogs I follow, I've gathered that querying is hell. It requires persistence and patience. I was persistent and patient enough to write a book, but those two qualities have been sorely lacking in every other part of my life. I dunno if I'm patient enough to get past the twenty or so rejection letters (average number of rejections received before requests... by my own guesstimation...), especially considering how hard I was hit when I didn't get into the creative writing program here. Especially how personally I take things.

I started looking at the second book (yeah, the three or so pages I have of it...), and I'm really nervous, because I haven't had to plan out a book since last summer. It was hard, by the way. Just making up events out of thin air. Fun, but hard.

Ok, that all sounded like a conceited rant, didn't it? Sorry. I'm just, a really awkward combination of terrified, excited, accomplished and full of self doubt all at the same time. It really doesn't make for a coherent blog post...

The end of the beginning and the beginning of a... nother beginning?

93,987 words.

That is how long the first draft of my manuscript is.

Yes, you read that right. It's six in the morning, and I've just finished the first draft of my book!

What I'm feeling now is... indescribable. I know tons of people finish books, and thousands go unpublished, and there's a chance that mine will never see the light of day, but... Just knowing that I've finished something so monumentally huge is... insane.

I have faith in myself again, faith that the things I dropped in the past weren't because I'm a lazy person. I can finish huge projects, I can show commitment and passion about something in my life, and work my ass off until it's done.

I feel like I can do anything now, that if I put my mind to it, jump in head first with as much passion and enthusiasm as I can muster, I can do it.

Does that sound cheesy?

Oh well.

I FINISHED A BOOK!

Aw crap. Now I have to edit it. And find an agent! And then get it published. And then go do book signings.

Someday :D

Check out the rest of my journey here:

http://kirabell89.livejournal.com/

I'll still be posting on here, but I decided that this blog is a little too personal. I want to be a professional writer, so the above link is my professional blog, or at least as professional as I'm capable of being :)

Adieu! Until we meet again!

Now, to edit!

Wait what?

What is this nonsense about me writing a book?

Oh. Right.

That bs AKA thirty pages of crap sitting on my desktop. That's the ending? Uh... ha... 

Haha... 

Right. 

Tee hee.

*Backs away slowly*

TOOTLES!

UPDATE: I am NOT done with the book!!!!! STILL HAVE MORE TO DO!

Road trips and thunder and ghosts, oh my!

Yesterday was the best day of my summer thus far, and I'll tell you why. 

I hung out with some amazing people, ate some amazing chedder pretzels, and went on an amazing road trip!

Tamara, Chris, Ben and I left St. Francis at around nine at night, and drove up to Plainfield, WI, armed with three iPods, two bags of chips, four cases of energy drinks, a flash light, and two cameras. Along with Eric and Tiffany (two new friends), we braved the lightning, thunder, rain, and (almost) hail to get up to the house of one, Ed Gein. 

Yes, he's a serial killer. A dead serial killer.

Yes, I know it's weird to go to the town where a serial killer was born. 

Let me explain!

Basically we drove up there, drove past his house (or the remains of it at least. It burned down in the seventies), the local cemetery, and a hardware store where he committed his last murder. 

The trip was partially due to the article we read in Chris' Haunted Wisconsin book, partially due to a morbid curiosity of the unknown violence that lurks in the world of suburbia, and partially for the pure joy of driving. 

I had the most fun driving there and back, through twisting roads and abandoned highways as the moon sat up in the sky, shrouded by clouds as rain poured down on the van. We listened to some great music and had some memorable conversations, and overall, it was the best time I'd had all summer! 

Best part: I sat in the back, so I turned around and stared out the window as the road melted into the night. I don't know how else to describe it...

AND it counts as book research. At least for the prologue. I plan on writing about Kerrie and Rachel's drive across the country, and if that creepy awesome terrifying road trip didn't inform me what it's like, nothing will. 

I have to do another road trip! 

Research

I'll level with you guys. Usually my research is limited to web MD and wikipedia, but the other day I had to ask a professional. 

This wouldn't have happened normally, I assure you, but my friend was reckless and needed a few band aids, so we stopped by the fire department where one of our friendly firemen/paramedics fished a band (or three) from the ambulance. 

While he did said harrowing task, I proceeded to interrogate him on certain medical procedures on certain medical injuries. 

Yes, I know. I'm being vague. I don't want to ruin it for those reading my book, though I'm sure that everyone can deduct that someone at some time gets hurt. But I hope my readers already knew that something like that would happen to at least one character... 

But who knows? I could pull a Tolkein and kill off everyone save for my six main characters, or I could pull a Rowling and save everyone except for my six main characters. 

Ok, exaggeration, but you get the gist of it; I'm unpredictable! Just cause I'm a sucker for happy endings don't mean I won't go all Hamlet on your asses :D 

With lasers :) 

Ok, definitely not with lasers. You can all safely rule that out. 

Now that I'm positive that I'm ranting, I'm going to do the honorable thing and end this blog post. 

OH 

I might stop writing on this blog- once I finish the book I'm going LiveJournal. I already have an account, and I like the way I can manage comments/layouts/settings on it better. So I'll post a link once I'm ready to switch. 

Thanks for reading this incredibly long/mostly pointless post!

Endings and Coraline (best movie EVER)

I'm working on the ending of my book, listening to the amazing Coraline soundtrack. Basically my last two posts were me in a whiny panic. 

I'll try not to be like that again :( 

Right now I'm a little ecstatic because I've figured out what's going to happen to Rachel and friends. 

For the most part. 

It's wonderful because as I write, the story changes. It feels really awesome :D 

Stayed up really late last night writing a major scene, and I'll try to continue to be a writing machine. 

My birthday's in 9 days! I'm so excited to not be a teen anymore. 

Funny note: when I asked people what I should do during my last days as a teen, one friend suggested getting pregnant, so I can have a teenage pregnancy. 

Not gonna try to do that one... 

But it would be cool if I could have the right to say that I finished an entire book as a teenager :D We're going to aim for that goal. 

Not the teenage pregnancy, lol. 

Well, I'm off to finish a book. 

Three chapters in nine days? 

I can SO do that.