Perhaps it’s “I Love You” written on a scrap of napkin?

Could it be “Will you marry me?” accompanied by a diamond ring?

How about “You’re having a girl!” Or boy. Or both!?

Those are all really great words, and they make for really awesome experiences. But those aren’t the words I’m talking about. No, my words are a little different. A little more specific. I’m going to throw three pictures up here and you tell me if you can figure out the words because you scroll down and cheat. 😉

Now can you guess?

You see … the three stories above are culminations of days, weeks, months and sometimes years of work. Writing. Editing. Tweaking. Retooling. Thinking. Pondering. Letting the story simmer. Editing more. All those activities just to produce a story.

That’s before ever getting it published. We repeat the cycle again once it’s in the production queue.

I have 9 of these little ditties. All written. All edited. Not all polished, no. Many need an overhaul. Some are the first in a series that will need to be written. Some are the second. Some are just ideas. But 9 of them are finished in some form or fashion.

Why would I toil for so long on something that makes me no money whatsoever until it gets put into book form?

Because I love it. I am absolutely addicted to writing. As a long-time Project Manager though, I can tell you my favorite thing about the project is the same as my favorite combination of words.

It’s the completion. It’s The End. It’s getting to that moment of glory where I can say “I did it!”

It means I’ve completed a goal. I’ve challenged myself (because every story I write is a different challenge) and I’ve earned my badge. It doesn’t matter that it doesn’t come with a big hefty paycheck.

You know why teacher’s teach? They want to change the world, one student at a time. Writers are like that. We want to create our own worlds, one story at a time. Whether it’s mystery, thrillers, romance, children’s books, young adult books, fantasy, literary fiction, commercial fiction. We wrote it not because someone said “This is your job today. Write a book.” Well, okay … some may have done that. But not me.

I write because I love it.

I write because it’s a challenge.

And all challenges need a finale.

One month ago, I finished the first draft of Surrender, book two in the Mimics of Rune series, following Little White Lies. I typed ‘The End’. But that wasn’t the end. Until I let it simmer, ran it through multiple editing passes and turned it over for the scrutiny of my editor and a few hearty souls willing to take on my draft, it wasn’t done.

I turned it in last night. 12:02 am. Surrender has been surrendered. 🙂

If I’m really, really lucky, it’ll pass the test and get into ‘The production queue’. I’ll let you know as soon as I can.

For now, I’m very, very, very happy to say, I have written “The End” and can’t wait to write book 3.

What goal have you accomplished lately? It can be as small as taking out the trash to seeing your art in a museum. Anything goes. Share in the comments!

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Buy it at: local bookstore or Amazon Barnes & Noble AllRomance BooksOnBoard	Coming 12/1/2011!	Coming 3/1/2012!