I did it!
Yesterday, at around 6pm, I wrote the last word of my book.
Yes, it's DONE!!!
It's a total of 79,460 words, just shy of the 80,000-goal I had.
I had pictured this moment a thousand times. How would it feel? How excited would I be?
Turns out, all I felt was an overwhelming sense of exhaustion, and the desire to have a nice, long nap.
But then the phone rang and I had to go back to the hospital, because I was on call. Life, I tell ya - it doesn't stop when you achieve a momentous goal.
But that's not even the biggest thing that happened to me yesterday.
At precisely 6:34pm, I emailed the finished manuscript, a heartfelt letter and all my hopes, to a publishing company. Why?
Because they asked for it!!!!!!!
(Insert me freaking out here.)
How this came about is a crazy, wonderful, magic story.
About a month ago, I received an email from an author. She had found my blog, liked what she saw, and decided to take a chance. She asked me if I would be interested in getting a copy of her book, a memoir. Of course I was!
Books are my passion, and I've been devouring memoirs like sour candy. (Meaning, I've been reading a lot of them. And also, I've been eating a lot of sour candy. Candy and writing go together like peanut butter and jam!)
If you want to be a writer, you have to be a reader, they say, and that's definitely the easiest part of writing for me!
Her book is full of magic, stories about the awesome power of the universe, and her deep-seated belief that everything happens for a reason. Since I'm a believer in the same principles as well, I love reading other people's stories.
It didn't even occur to me until I was halfway through, to see who published her book. I was getting close to finishing my own book, and I'd started to look for publishing options.
That's how I found Mascot Books. It's an indie publishing house, meaning they are dedicated to support independent bookstores by bringing indie authors and book stores together. As the daughter of small business owners, I love the idea that my book might be in someone else's small business one day.
But I'm getting waaaaaaay ahead of myself. Once I found out as much as I could about Mascot, I decided to send them a brief synopsis of my book. Talk about doing something despite the fear! My heart was in my throat, but I figured I have nothing to lose.
Two (!) days later, I received a reply - they wanted to know more!! So, yesterday I sent them a longer description, together with the full manuscript.
And now, we wait.
Putting yourself out there like this is scary - but also really empowering. If you own your past, your story, then nobody can use it against you. It liberates you and makes you stronger!
Don't be ashamed of your past. No matter what you've done, no matter what mistakes you made, your past shaped you into the person you are today. We all screw up. That's a side effect of being human.
But the trick is to learn from it, and then move on. Don't waste your life on regrets about things you can't change. In my opinion, regrets are useless; they keep you trapped in the past, and prevent you from moving on and living a happy life.
Here's to screwing up, learning from it, and moving on! Every new day is a fresh new page in the story of your life. Make it a good one!
xoxo Miriam
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Vol. 29