As we’re all aware of, the world is a crazy place right now. I waffle back and forth between “this will eventually blow over, most people will be fine” and…well, the opposite. Somewhere in all of this, I did, in fact, finish up Hunting Astrid earlier today. I actually have no idea how, since most nights after the kids are in bed, I’ve been catching up with the news and trying to keep calm and often landing somewhere in a field of “mentally checked out/rather numb.” Like the basic bitch I am, I literally can’t even right now. But it got done, so I’m not going to question it.
I still need to proof/edit, and write the blurbs (UGH), and all that other fun stuff before sending it off. That, too, will get done. I guess maybe a part of me subconsciously realizes that now, more than ever, perhaps, we need art to keep us sane and human, and I can do my part to contribute to that. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not overstating my skills here—this book is in no way a literary masterpiece, but there’s nothing wrong with quick and fun. We might even prefer stuff in the “quick and fun” category right now.
And fun it is. I still like the characters, I thoroughly enjoyed writing the plot, and I tossed in an emotional moment near the end because why the hell not. Again, it may not be the most gripping or poignant book I’ve ever written, but it accomplishes what I set out to do. For those keeping track, my original word count estimate was “around 22K, definitely more than 20K, probably less than 25K” (yes, I copy/pasted that), and before any sort of editing, I came in juuuust under 21K. Close enough. Firmly a novella, which is where I wind up most often.
So…done. Now I’ll go to my very neglected reading list, work on crocheting a baby gift that must be finished by September, and maybe finally get around to finishing up Life is Strange 2. The wheels are already turning for my next project, of course, but I might wait until things settle down a little bit. Or not. Who knows. Nothing is set in stone for the coming days, so let’s all just do what we need to do to get by and stay safe!
*This title is from an episode of Mythbusters where they were testing something (I don’t remember what) in a laundromat, and the old-school digital screens displayed “donE” at the end of a cycle, prompting one of them to say “Done with a capital E!” I was watching with my college roommates, and we all thought that was hilarious and repeated it frequently throughout the rest of the year whenever we finished something. And now I’m realizing that that was almost 15 years ago and I am OLD.
**Now I’m kind of wondering if I’ve used this title for a similar blog post in the past, but I’m too lazy to go back and check. Just more evidence that I am now OLD.