It's amazing the milestones that validate us as authors. Finishing Natural Selection felt pretty damn good, but I knew I still had a lot of work to do. I was fifteen thousands words short of my goal and I knew it was going to be a lot of work. When I finally finished the content edit it was fully fleshed out and a whole story. It felt good but still a little hollow since i knew the biggest hardest edit was still to come. Last night i finished that that edit and shipped it off to the editor. And despite all the steps that came before and the fact that I've felt like a "Writer" for months, maybe even years, this is the moment it was reinforced. Last night I had so many emotion going through me I couldn't begin to express them, a hard place for a writer to be. So I took the evening to bask in it. There might have been a happy dance that somewhat resembled the "What a Feeling' dance from Flashdance. :D

But now it's morning and time to focus on the next milestone. By August 12, when Natural Selection will be published (insert scream similar to Home Alone here) I want Second Nature done. And since it's sitting just under thirty thousand words, that is not only achievable but likely. I am working on a project with Liz Schulte which we're still not ready to go into yet since it's still kind of early, but it's going to be epic. So just because one project is drawing to a close doesn't mean I'm done.

I have two stories  in mind for when I am finally done with Lia's story, plus the one I already started. I don't know what order they will all be told or how quickly. But they will all be told... You haven't haerd the last of me.

But it leaves me with a question for all of you. Which of the MANY milestones on the road to publication is the most validating for YOU?