Friday, December 23, 2011

It is Finished

I still am pinching myself.

It's done. I've pushed send. No more staying up all night working on it. No more whining to my alleycat friends, my mom and my husband.

I FINISHED MY FIRST REAL CONTRACTED EDITS.

My edits were extensive. They required a pretty decent rewrite and some big changes, so much so that part of me is saying, "Why the heck did they want to publish this in the first place???"

But they did, and I tried my best on the edits, and that's all we can do, hm?

I would not be surprised in the least if they come back with more changes needed. And as long as that is after Christmas, I'm totally good with that! My desire is for my first book to be the BEST that I can possibly make it.

A special thanks to Mrs. Alley-cat Sarah, who in the last two weeks, read EVERY SINGLE ONE of my chapters as I edited and gave me FABULOUS critiques that I could not have pushed send without. (well, and felt GOOD about that send button!)

She even down to the wire, read 70 pages that last day.

I still need to catch up on sleep. The last few weeks I've stayed up late most nights, but Monday night, I didn't go to bed until 4 a.m., as I needed to have them DONE so I could spend Tuesday doing one last read through. Said read through took me all day Tuesday, as well as all night, until 6:09 a.m. when I was able to push that blurry send button.

And Christmas... I've put off "baking" with my kids so many times, that I know they are wondering, "are we actually going to do some today?" as today is the day I've promised we'd inundate ourselves with Christmas cookies. Yes, my children, TODAY IS THE DAY, because... edits are DONE!

Oh, and there is the little issue that I have yet to wrap even ONE of my children's presents. They are getting worried... we usually start putting them under the tree about two weeks before Christmas, and they trickle with more and more. Santa, of course, brings one big gift Christmas morning.  Considering we have 4 kiddos... that's a LOT of presents to wrap.

But, I'm determined to enjoy these last few days before Christmas.

Today, we PARTY!!!! It's an edits-are-finished party and Christmas cookies all around to celebrate!

Discussion:  What's your FAVORITE type of Christmas cookie???

11 comments:

Hutt-Write Voice said...

So, I guess congratulations are in order. Wishing you a Blessed Christmas and apublished book in the New Year!

Sherrinda Ketchersid said...

Congratulations Krista!!!!!!!!!!! You amaze me, you really do. I would have been a basket case if I were in your shoes. Seriously...you never cease to amaze me. And HUGE KUDOS to Sarah!!!! Way to go!

So relax, have fun, enjoy the family, and have a BLESSED Christmas.

p.s. I haven't wrapped my presents yet EITHER! :)

Joanne Sher said...

Congrats, Crista - and WOWOWOW to Sarah! Excited for you!

Merry CHristmas! I love ALL Christmas cookie - though my daughter and I are gonna try to make some chocolate-drizzled coconut macaroons today. :D

Pepper said...

CONGRATS, KRISTA!!!!!
YAY!!!!

And Sarah- you are AWESOME! Your critiques are truly pay-worthy.
Do you work for chocolate? :-)

Jeanne Takenaka said...

Krista--your joy spills onto the page today, and I'm so happy for you. :) Congratulations on getting the first round of edits done. You deserve to have a baking day, and time to catch up on sleep. May your Christmas be filled with laughter and joy!

I don't know what my favorite kind of Christmas cookie is. I eat gluten free, and I haven't tried many Christmas cookie recipes. If I could eat anything I wanted to though, I think it would be chocolate chocolate chip cookies with a dusting of powdered sugar on top. :)

Merry Christmas, Alley Cats!

Casey said...

Yayyyyyyy KRISTA!!!! And way to go SARAH!! You both are awesome. :D

Mary Vee Storyteller said...

You made a difficult task real, yet inspiring for us. Wow Krista--it's done...you did it. I'm so happy for you..and totally can't wait to see the book in print.

Sarah,
You are our hero. You helped a fellow Alley Cat even through the 11th hour. What a treasure you are:)

I can smell the cookies cooking, with special decos done by kids, Krista :)

Faith said...

Congrats Krista :) And Merry Christmas :)

Keli Gwyn said...

Congratulations on completing your edits, Krista! Hope you've caught up on your sleep.

And yay for Superwoman Sarah reading for you. What a supportive friend!

Karen @ a house full of sunshine said...

Congratulations! An awesome accomplishment. Hope you enjoyed your Christmas!!

patti.mallett_pp said...

Congratulations!!! You have painted a picture of what we dream of doing. (And it's a warning to be prepared, too.)

Unable to do gluten anymore, the treat I enjoyed today (besides my newly discovered Boom Choco Boom candy bars), was a homemade marshmallow that my brother-in-law makes! Yum! (Mine was plain. Some were dipped in chocolate.)

I used to bake cut-out Sand Tarts, topped with a dab of whipped egg white and almond slivers and sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. Crunchy and delicious!