A few hours ago, I pressed ‘send’ and emailed the final(ish) edits of my second novel, Let Her Go, to my editor and publisher at Hachette. I’ve been working pretty intensely on them every day for the past two weeks, so I mainly feel relief and exhaustion at the moment, with an undercurrent of anxiety!

My desk at the end of two weeks of editing in Cape Town

I remember this feeling well from when I sent Fractured back post-edits. There comes a time when as a writer, you have to let go of a book. I’ve been writing this novel, off and on, for about two years: I’d written a pretty minimal draft of it before Fractured was published, and then spent most of 2013 rewriting and drafting it (in between promoting Fractured). I’m not 100% satisfied with it, but no matter how many edits I do, I don’t think I ever would be. I have to trust that my editor and publisher are looking at it with fresh, professional eyes, and if they are happy, then I will be too!

Soon, the proof copies will be printed and sent out to booksellers around the country, and then after another round of editing/proofreading, the final copies will be printed in a few months’ time before it hits the shelves in July 2014. Eek!

In the meantime, I have a lot to keep me busy! After three months in Cape Town, we’re heading back to Australia this weekend where I’ll be settling the kids back into a routine. I’ve got a few other (non-fiction) writing things going on and I’m looking forward to the Perth Writers Festival in February (as an audience member rather than a speaker this year). I also hope to start a third novel as soon as things are back to normal in Perth, and hopefully make it to some other literary festivals later in the year.

But for now, I’m looking forward to enjoying my last week with my children in Cape Town, while Let Her Go is out of my hands and into the very capable hands of Hachette!