What now?

You type "The end."

You sit back in your chair, close your eyes and take a deep, cleansing breath.

....
......
..........

You open your eyes back up. Everything on the screen is a little blurry. Your brain hurts from the tens of thousands of words you've just finished squeegee-ing out of it. You can barely remember your family member's names, or what day it is.

Now what?

Never fear... KRISTA'S TWELVE STEP PROGRAM is here!

1.) Push Save.

2.) Close your document.

3.) Run around the house, dancing with joy.

4.) Eat some celebratory chocolate

5.) Make you hubby (or wife, or parent, or significant other, or your own wallet) take you out to dinner.

6.) Tweet your fun news!

7.) Play on Facebook, catch up with what all your friends are up to while you've had your mind on your book and characters.

8.) Actually make your family dinner instead of the endless nights of frozen/takeout meals they've had.

9.) Sleep. A lot.

10.) Go to the store and stock up on chocolate and your choice of caffeine pleasure.

11.) After at least a week but up to a month, open your manuscript back up.

12.) EDIT. (And when you're done... lather, rinse, and repeat steps 1 through 12!)

Discussion: What do YOU do when you finish a novel? If you haven't reached this point... it's dream time!!

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Krista is a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mother, and a contemporary romance author. She recognizes that life can be frustrating and just plain not fun sometimes, but believes that laughter and smiles can make the not-so-fun a little better! She blogs about the amazing things God has been doing and her journey as a busy momma of 4 and caregiver to a daughter with a rare congenital heart defect at http://reflectionsbykrista.blogspot.com. She is also a contributor at www.wordservewatercooler.com. She is represented by the fab agent, Rachelle Gardner, and her debut novel, Sandwich, With a Side of Romance, releases in September 2012.