Finishing a book

Anne here, and I’ve just finished a book — finished in that I've written the full draft, submitted it to my editor for comment, and revised it with her comments in mind. It’s now gone off to copyediting and I’m celebrating — well, that’s the theory. Here's the cover -- pretty eh? 

I always plan to do something wonderfully exciting and celebratory when I’ve finished a book, and as I’m in the last frenzied stages of the book, my head is full of plans for what I’ll do once the book is in . . .

Should I go for a little holiday? Some of my writing friends always take themselves off on a lovely little holiday somewhere when they put a book in. Or should I go a little lower-key and just invite a bunch of friends around to celebrate? Or maybe I should go shopping, splash out and buy something I’ve always wanted. Whatever that is.

But somehow, once the book is in, those plans just seem to evaporate. I look around the house, blinking like a new-wakened bear and see that the housework has banked up disgracefully and my office is a bomb — and not in a good way — so a week of washing and vacuuming, scrubbing and polishing lies ahead.  Yay. 

As well, I have a stack of emails to be answered, and a pile of little literacy books to be laid out ready for the printer and some new stories to write for series #8 of PageTurners. And there are bills to be paid and sorted through because my tax is due —yes, there's no end to the dissipation and wild partying here. Or maybe I'll just step out and enjoy the garden —it’s spring downunder —and admire the luxuriant abundance of healthy . . . weeds — oh the joy!  

I saw how tragic my so-called “celebrations” had become when I walked in to my hairdresser's the other day and he said, “So, just finished a book have you?” Because that’s also one of my rituals. Maybe I should take the plunge and go for some really wild partying and book the dentist in as well.

And OMG! — who put the holiday season on fast forward? Whoever it was has stolen half the year? Because I’m already getting adverts telling me Christmas is just weeks away!  Can that be right? If so, I’m very tempted to buy everyone a goat and then go into holiday hibernation. A goat? you ask. Yes, really. More about that here.

So I’m not going away on a holiday, but I am taking steps to find some slightly less mundane ways to celebrate finishing a book that has taken me eight months (or more) to finish. Tomorrow (as you read this, in fact) I will be meeting with someone to make some long-needed changes to my house, and in the evening I have invited some friends to come around for pizza and to watch a show I’ve been planning to watch for ages — OUTLANDER.  Okay, it’s baby steps, but it’s a start.

The other thing I'll do is to make stuff — for some reason, once I’ve finished a book, I always feel a need to make stuff — in a hands-on creative way. I’m not terribly skilled at it, but I do enjoy tinkering around with things. So I am going to a bead and gem show in a few days and plan to buy some gorgeous semi-precious stones to make some jewelry. And I’ll head to the beach on a cold and windy day and look for sea-glass, also to make jewelry with. 

And rather than getting panicked about how fast the holiday season has crept up on me, I’m planning to make some Christmas ornaments. As well as one or two gifts—apart from the goats.

And because this book and the characters in it are still living in my head, I’ve already started on the next book in the series. And a prequel, too. So yes, it appears I’ve already put myself back on the treadmill.

So, any suggestions for how you think I should celebrate the finishing of a book? Because clearly I'm a celebration tragic and need a few tips. I'll send a copy of the Wenchly Christmas anthology — THE LAST CHANCE CHRISTMAS BALL — to some one who leaves a really good suggestion.

Comments

[Swathi]

Go with a group of friends on a holiday

[Mary T]

If it was me, I would treat myself to a shopping trip with friends and stop at a really nice restaurant for lunch. BTW, that is a beautiful cover for your book. That alone would make me want to read it.

[Andrea Penrose]

Wonderful post, Anne. Alas, we party on the same bandwidth! Sigh.

I see you haven't mentioned baking something sinfully sweet and yummy. You do know, don't you, that calories never count within the two weeks days of sending off a finished book!

[StephanieL]

Whenever I finish a particularly grueling class that has drained my brain to the point of numbness I find celebration is much different for me. I find a bit of a nap, a lovely glass of wine and a long walk to be catharsis. On the beach would be heavenly (alas, in land locked Oklahoma...that's not happening). I can't afford to go on holiday anywhere so it all revolves around clearing out the cobwebs, even for a half day. Because the next class is always around the bend. I adore reading (thus why I'm here LOL) but at these moments, I need to rest my head. :-) Congrats on finishing the book, the cover is gorgeous!! May you find a moment to enjoy it!

[Jeanette]

Started to laugh just a few lines in. Spoken - well, written - like a true introvert. Re-posted a meme the other day for people like us. Something along the lines of "When I'm home, I start thinking I should go out more. When I'm out, I just want to be at home." It ended with a "I hate people" which I don't think fits you. All your plans sound good to me and I think, I'd just settle back and enjoy "Being Home" with enough to do to keep life interesting but no "Sword of Damocles" hanging over your head for awhile. Book cover looks wonderful and I've pre-ordered. I enjoyed the links, esp. the goat. We have goats ourselves and they are fun to have besides being a life-saver for others peoples. I've used a similar program to gift others. Just relax and enjoy.

[Patricia Rice]

LOL, Anne! Glad you've crawled out of your cave, but you're about as much of a partier as I am if that's all you can find to do. I just finished one rough draft and one revised draft and I'm--going to the dentist and doctor. Girls know how to have fun!

[Vicki L.]

Plan a couple of little day trips. Places you've been meaning to go to, walks you've been meaning to take. Ask someone(or multiple someone's) you'd like to go with you. Little mini-party!

That gives you time to catch up with all the mundane ARGH tasks and chores but is something you don't normally do.

And yes, I totally understand being in the rut and not knowing quite how you want to celebrate after months of hard work. But being exhausted at the same time.

That is a gorgeous cover.

[Linnea J Priest MD]

If you are happy cleaning and enjoy the aftermath, then don't worry about what you "should" do. Just do what floats your boat!

[Quantum]

Anne, as a research scientist I felt that the supreme after dinner indulgences was to pour myself a large brandy or scotch and settle down to read some of my own publications. Scientific papers are much shorter than novels so I recommend reading one of your own short stories and patting yourself on the back .... when no-one is watching!

Love the cover ... So glad that the woman's head is fully visible.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Swathi -- but that would involve organizing other people. (shudder) *g*

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Mary -- I'm a shopping tragic as well. Shopping is a chore for me, and on "shopping for fun" expeditions my inner grumpy teen comes out. "Are we finished yet?" LOL.
But dinner with friends at a lovely restaurant is a fine idea. As for my new cover, I'm very happy with it, too. Thank you.

[Anne Gracie]

Alas, Andrea, baking is out — am attempting to diet, and there's a strange symbiotic (or something) relationship between baking and eating. Weird, but there it is. *g*

I might follow this suggestion up, by a friend who sent it in an email: "You’ve missed the wild and crazy fun of refolding all your sweater and t-shirt drawers!"
Indeed.
And the sock drawer-- how did I forget the scintillation of the sorting of the sock drawer? (with free alliteration)

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Stephanie, that's much more my style, I think. The next gloomy, windy day that pops up, I'm heading for the beach -- because it won't be crowded then -- to go for a nice long walk and pick up sea-glass and any other off bits and pieces. I'm a beach-comber at heart.

[Anne Gracie]

Jeanette, I love that meme -- and you're right, I don't hate people at all. But I do like to be able to get away from the crowd. Mary Jo says that writing conferences are full of introverts madly pretending to be extroverts, and I think she's right.
Re the goats -- we had a couple of goats when I was little, and I loved Nanny and hated Billy with a passion -- he was evil! And I love that OxFam program. They have bees this year, so I think I'll have to send people bees for Christmas, because beekeeping runs in my family, and it will be a little reminder of Dad. And a nice change from goats. *g*

[Anne Gracie]

The dentist and the doctor -- you, me and MJ -- see, we wordwenches really DO know how to party, Pat! LOL

[Anne Gracie]

It is something of a rut, Vicki -- I keep drifting back to the computer and adding a few words to the next couple of stories. But you're right -- I need to wrench myself away and have a few mini-parties and walks -- remind myself that there is a world out there. Mind you, the dog does that daily, so I kind of know that. But she never buys me a drink. I know —no manners. *g*

[Anne Gracie]

Linnea -- "happy" and "cleaning" are two words that almost never join up in my lexicon -- unless they collide. Having a clean and tidy house -- yes, that's lovely. But the process of getting there is not one that delights me. I would hire a cleaner -- except that I'm sure I'd be like my mother, who hired a cleaner for a few months when I was in high school. Mum worked full time, even when I was a baby, and kept a home for four kids, a husband, and assorted animals. So eventually we talked her into hiring a lady to clean, and every week, the day before the cleaner lady came, we'd all have to run around madly cleaning and tidying the house so Mum wouldn't be embarrassed.LOL.I think that lesson bit deeply, because that's me now.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Quantum -- I might take you up on the scotch, but I'm afraid I can't reread my stories once they're published, because I always find things I want to change. But I'm blessed in that I know a lot of writers, so I never have a shortage of books to read, and that is indeed my post-book indulgence.

Thanks for your kind words on the cover — I feel very blessed with it. Am chuckling at your delight in my heroine having an intact head. I think I was one of the first to have the headless hero and heroine covers, way back when — for An Honorable Thief —and I don't actually mind them, because the people on the covers are never my characters anyway.

[Shauna B.]

Book a day at a Day Spa. Get a massage, mani-pedi, maybe even your haircut. Take yourself (or maybe you and a friend) to a lovely brunch at a restaurant with a view (beach, maybe?), and have champagne and something wonderful,including dessert. Go shopping (or at least window shopping), and maybe buy something to commemorate the end of the book. How about a nice dinner, a movie, a concert or symphony (even at home on Netflix!), or maybe some stargazing to end your day? Housecleaning and bills will still be waiting (forever! Ugh!) but you should take one full day to rest, recharge,and pamper before you have to deal with reality again!

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Shauna -- now that's a plan! You clearly know how to pamper and indulge yourself -- and others. Lovely suggestions.

[Kathy K]

I dunno, the dentist and a checkup sound pretty wild to me. Maybe you could add in a mammogram and pap smear for extra wildness. (smiling)
No, really, I think a day of decadent wallowing in comfort and pampering sounds like heaven. Have your nails done, get a massage and a facial, get coffeE in bed... you get the drift. YOU DESERVE IT!

[Susan/DC]

Shauna beat me to it. I always feel totally pampered when I get a mani/pedi, and since it is soon to be sandals season (if not already) for you, you will be prepared. A facial is also nice and even more of an indulgence.

And even though it is something you can have any day, whether in the midst of book frenzy or at the end, a nice cup of tea is always a treat and makes me feel relaxed.

[Anne Gracie]

"Maybe you could add in a mammogram and pap smear for extra wildness."
LOL -- what a great idea, Kathy. Why did I overlook such obvious sources of delight? You sound like a wenchly kind of party gal! *g*

Thank you for your kind words. And here's a secret -- I've NEVER had my nails done professionally. Nail polish and I don't get on. I'm too careless and I keep doing stuff without regard to having nice nails, so hours after theyre done, I manage to chip some of it off and then it looks horrible.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks Susan -- I have just confessed my Dark Secret to Kathy in the previous comment. Maybe I will one day, before a conference, or some time where I'm unlikely to attack an overgrown bush or rearrange a brick edging in my garden and ruin the effect of the mani/pedi. I also think something slightly energetic is probably better for me to do, after the months at a keyboard. And THEN a nice cuppa.

[Kareni]

I think it's time for some indulgence (since you have the dissipation and wild partying already covered). I suggest some chocolate truffles and perhaps a new scarf. They have some appropriately bookish ones at this site: TheOhlala https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/TheOhlala?ref=l2-shopheader-name

[Kareni]

And I forgot to say congratulations on finishing your book!

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Kareni -- chocolate and gorgeous scarves are indeed a fine way to celebrate.

[Anne Gracie]

Thank you Kareni -- and oh, I just looked at that bookish scarf site... Very nice.

[Danielle Smoot]

Do you ever do dance parties? I love doing dance parties to celebrate. When I wrote my final paper for graduate school, and it was my last final and I was finally D.O.N.E I turned on awesome music as loud as possible and danced around my room like a crazy person. It only lasted for about 5-10 minutes (dancing with that much energy is exhausting!) but its as so liberating. Honestly, dance parties are good anytime. My 2 year old and I do dance parties all the time, especially with stuffed animals. He has grown to love dance parties so much that he's basically requesting them about 3-4 times a week. He runs to grab the "dance party" stuffed animals and says, "Dance parry?" How can you resist that? Seriously, throw yourself a dance party. You won't regret it.

[Anne Gracie]

Danielle -- I love this idea -- thank you. I do occasionally do a bit of a dance alone in my lounge-room -- put on my most "movable" music and dance around like a mad loon, just to clear the brain cobwebs when I'm writing and get the blood moving. But I've never thought of it as a dance party. What a lovely, celebratory notion. Thank you.

And your little boy sounds adorable. What a fun thing to do with him.

[Sue McCormick]

My idea fits in with that of Vicki L. Take a short trip to a museum or similar place of interest. My husband and I HATE to shop, don't dance, don't drink (health not "morals"), etc. But we LOVE interesting places.

At the stitching retreat I attended last weekend, I met someone who remembered fondly the Thomas Hart Benton murals at the Missouri state capitol building. This building in about 35 miles south of us, and my husband and I have failed to visit in 27 years! We love that sort of thing, so we're planing a trip soon.

Surely Melbourne has many treasures such as that!

[Janice]

It's a lovely cover -- and as Quantum noted, the heroine even has a head (with, since you wrote it, a brain in it, I'm sure).

I like your idea of making jewelry or doing something constructive that's done with your hands, and letting the other side of your mind rest and recharge. When I need to straighten out my head, I clean my floors. Not in the same league with jewelry, but at least for a while I have clean(er) floors.

I am like you about shopping. I have come to hate it. My idea of shopping is zoom in, take the first thing that will work that I see, zoom out again. I have been told I shop like a guy. Except in book stores (of which we used to have many more), where I can linger indefinitely.

[ute rozenbilds]

Hi Anne. Congratulations on another successful milestone.
Celebrations ought to include -
A massage, so you rediscover that there is a neck connecting your back to your head. Too many hours spent at the keyboard tend to shrink a neck and turn shoulders into stone.
Invest in Henckel champagne mini bottles. You can buy them individually or in sets of 3. Each one has 200 mls of life affirming joy in them. They also improve your mood by slightly blurring your vision meaning you can't see dust or weeds anymore.
Finally, go and see the Johnstone Collection which should be starting their pre Xmas special. Gorgeous antiques in a Melbourne Georgian style townhouse accompanied by morning or afternoon tea. And a gift shop to take care of all Xmas shopping.

[Heidi Rice]

Ive just finished a book... That nearly killed me, I'm doing my tax return... But I did take a four day trip to Ireland to visit my best mate and Abby Green! So I've rewarded myself.

[Anne Gracie]

Sue, I do like the idea of visiting a gallery or museum. Some writers swear by a regular "artist date" where you visit places that renews the well, and I think that might be a fine thing to do. And you're right -- Melbourne has lots of wonderful places to visit. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Janice -- I have, in fact just washed and re-polished my floors and vacuumed thoroughly, but making jewelry has MUCH more appeal. As for lingering in bookshops -- guilty as charged. I once saw a cartoon of a woman being sucked into a chocolate shop, clinging desperately to a light pole -- that's me with bookshops. Some near me are also very civilized and have deep comfy armchairs, and excellent coffee shops nearby.

[Anne Gracie]

Hi Ute -- thank you for your kind words. A massage might even lower my shoulders — you're right— I do hunch them after long hours at the keyboard. The Johnston Collection -- what a good idea. You know, I've recommended it to so many people, but I've never been there myself. I should go -- and them maybe I'll blog about it on the word wenches. *g*

https://www.johnstoncollection.org/

[Anne Gracie]

Oh, Heidi — congratulations on finishing yet another lovely book -- and what a gorgeous thing to do to celebrate. I wish you and Abby were just a wee bit easier to visit, though if I did come, I fear other friends would be climbing into my suitcase and demanding to come too. *g* Have a drink for me.

[Kathy K]

I'm also very hard on nail polish but there have been technological advances that help a lot. I'm currently using a gel polish that has to be cured under UV light after each coat. It lasts well for 2 weeks but starts to deteriorate after that. Still, that's better than regular lacquer.There's also a gel powder that a lot of people are using. You put a sticky base coat on then dip your nail into a pot of powder. No curing is required. I tried it a couple of times and found it wasn't as long-lasting for me as the other. I'm disastrous at home manicures, so professional is definitely the way to go. Besides, it's all about papmpering, remember?

[Jeanette]

Know what you mean about messing up nail polish. I've tried. Can't get out of the salon without having scuffed them up. Tried acrylic nails once too. When the lady doing them told me, "Jewels, not tools, Jeanette" I knew I wasn't going to be successful with them either. LOL But some time at a spa would be a wonderful treat.

[Shannon]

I think all the good ideas have been suggested with some lovely variations. I remember turning in my master's thesis into the printers. I had been up all night trying to do a final proofread of the hard copy. I wandered into the center's library half asleep, and they suggested the best way to celebrate was to sleep. So I wish for you a number of days when you wake to the sound of birds or the first light of the day. Finish with a lovely warm beverage. Repeat several days in a row.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Anne, oddly enough, I have NO problem leaving the mess for my cleaning lady to take care of. *G*

[Vicki L.]

Oh yes....napping on a screened porch listening to birds and critters as you drift off and then drift back. That is very luxurious. Totally forgot that idea.

[Janice]

Either the folk in Los Angeles are no longer readers, or amazon is killing bookstores off faster even than we thought -- but in all of West Los Angeles, there's only one general bookstore still handy - the Barnes & Noble in Marina del Rey. There is another B&N store in The Grove, but traffic there is bizarre verging on impossible now. There are a few comics stores that also carry a few related books. In the Valley there are only three bookstores left that I can think of - Barnes & Noble in Calabasas and a B&N called Bookstar in Studio City, and a B&N in Burbank. That's it, to serve areas that house over a million people. That's not even counting the rest of LA. Twenty years ago, there were independents, Crowns, Waldenbooks, Borders and B&Ns wherever you looked -- in all the now deserted malls as well as big freestanding stores. Pathetic. I sometimes wonder if amazon's success is a harbinger of the end of civilization. Where do smart people have left to meet in person and in relative safety now?

One thing I think I'd like about the regency era is that so many people were interested in books and writing. Books were read and reread, people collected them, and bookstores like Hatchards were a hangout. I could live with that, even if it meant boned corsetry and Hats ;)

[[email protected]]

Why don't you get dressed up so that you feel feminine and pretty. That feeling you get when you feel like an adult and a woman instead of feeling like someone that always has one more thing to do and cannot even remember her own name. Then go and do something you truly enjoy and that defines your idea of happiness. It may be as simple as going to the movies or creating something new at paint and pottery but everything is so much more special when you know that you look fabulous. Don't forget to take a picture to commemorate your gift of joy to yourself and make it your screensaver. Celebratory moments need to be commemorated for those days that you feel you will never reach your next celebratory moment.

[pjpuppymom]

Congrats on finishing the book, Anne! I've circled May 2 on my 2017 calendar. A new book from you is always cause for celebration for me! :)

I'd suggest some day or half-day excursions. Walks on the beach, a pedicure, museum or gallery visit, window shopping, afternoon tea, or evening drinks with music. Whatever you enjoy doing. It's like little gifts to yourself.

[Deb Wilson]

What you are likely to do sounds brilliant - don't change a thing :)

[Anne Gracie]

I should try a spa, I know. Im not much good at being pampered -- for me thats climbing into bed with a coffee and a good book. But I might try a spa. Thanks, Jeanette.

[Anne Gracie]

Shannon, sleep is a lovely thought. When I send off a book my head is usually FULL of thoughts and worries and did I fix that bit and endless little shreds of anxiety. But I eventually get to sleep, and I always wake up to the sound of birds in the big tree outside my bedroom, and its the loveliest sound.

[Anne Gracie]

Okay, Kathy -- I think you might have convinced me -- not for now, but maybe the next time I go to a conference Ill get my nails done professionally and see how that goes. Yikes -- a whole new world for me *g*

[Anne Gracie]

Hi Vicki -- yes, I want a screened porch. Its on my do-get list. Mary Jo introduced me to her summer room -- I think thats what its called -- a totally screened in room, open to the summer nights but not the summer bugs. Such a lovely spot.

[Anne Gracie]

Oh Janice that is such a sad state of affairs. And if its happening where you are, I suspect its very likely to follow here eventually. I have to admit, though, that I go to bookstores less often myself -- I order lots of books on line and also buy lots of e-books. Partly thats because Im running out of space for books in my house -- who am I kidding -- Im well out of space! -- but also because so many of the bookshops here dont stock the books I want.

[Anne Gracie]

LOL Mary Jo -- I need to channel you more. Or maybe take lessons.

[Glenda]

You could start by paying someone to do that deep cleaning so you don't have to wear yourself out with more work. ;-)

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Jeannie -- thats a lovely suggestion. Getting dressed up and heading out feeling good is partly what my visit to the hairdresser is about.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks for your kind words, PJ. So far to celebrate (apart from sweeping, mopping and polishing, etc) Ive watched the first three episodes of OUTLANDER with friends -- and pizza, Ive made a new bracelet and am planning earrings and a necklace next, and the weather is fining up, so a long walk along the beach might be on the cards next.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Glenda -- one day I will bite the bullet and do that.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Deb -- Im actually having a nice time -- albeit quite low key.

[Karin]

My treat when I've finished a task is to sit down with a pot of tea and an historical romance novel. I'll bet your TBR list piled up while you were on deadline, so now is the time to catch up on your reading. Maybe even go to a nice B&B where you can hide out and read all weekend!

[Anne Gracie]

Karin, my TBR pile is always piled up . *g* But yes, diving into a pile of take-me-away novels is my idea of a good time. Thanks.

[DB Tait]

I'd buy a piece of jewellery and have a nice meal somewhere. If I was in Melbourne I would go to Cellinis at Cliffton Hill or Carlton. Carlton has the advantage of great places to eat of course (as you well know). Where I live, I'd buy something from my friend Lindy's shop in Leura and then have lunch at Leura Garage with a friend. Then I'd probably binge on some Netflix series. But I also like the idea of a spa treatment and a mani/pedi, which I've never had.

[Anne Gracie]

Deb, in this house buying jewelry is like bringing coals to Newcastle -- though sadly, Im always tempted to buy new stuff.
And yesterday I headed out to my fave jewelry supplies place and bought me some gorgeous dark-green pearls, which I will turn into a necklace. Which is, I admit, likebringing coals to Newcastle, because I have so many pearls already. But not big fat dark greeny-blue ones. *g*