Whew! The first draft of Circus Galacticus is DONE. I love the mad rush to the end of the book, when all I want to do is just writewritewrite until I have it out, but it sure is tiring. I normally shoot for 1000 words a day when I am drafting, but in the three days on CG I added over 10K. No wonder my brain still feels like mush.

I think the universe must be paying attention, though, because it has been raining and raining and raining, giving me excellent opportunities to try out my cool new boots, which were my reward-aka-bribe for finishing the draft. I love them! Not only are they keeping my toes dry, they’re also inspiration for my hopefully-next writing project, which involves ghosts, pirates, Maine, fiddles, mermaids, and tragic, star-crossed romance.

But first, there’s still plenty to be done on Circus Galacticus: I have two characters to rip out (one forever, since the role I thought he would fill was taken over by someone cooler. The other character will show up if I get to write a sequel) plus several events that need better setup. And there’s the usual cleanup where I realize I’ve said “He grinned” a bazillion times and every character is raising her eyebrows and flashing his smile constantly. But now I have something solid to work with. And I am already really eager to dive back in. I hope that’s a good sign, since often I have the opposite feeling: I finish the draft and just want to walk away for a few weeks (or even years). My plan is to not touch it for two weeks or so, then go back and get it fit to be seen by beta readers.

In the meantime, I have a ton of reading to catch up on, and brainstorming to do for the new Ghost Pirate book. I’m also giving my very first “talk” at Lithgow Library in Augusta ME this Wednesday (the 17th) at 6:30 PM. I’ll be talking about writing Fortune’s Folly, and about fairy tale and myth-based fantasy novels in general. I’m making a handout with a list of other MG and YA novels that include fairy tale or mythic elements so if you all have any favorites please comment to share them. I’d love some more suggestions!