MESA (DONE!!) Well, Mostly.

 With just about 70,000 words I am finished with the initial writing of the book. It has 29 chapters and will need to be gone through at least a few times to edit, space, fill in the gaps, add to the content, and of course use Grammarly. I'm about to do the dance that I dance when I'm done. It's a done dance of sorts.

    The biggest thrill is when I know I'm going to do the last bits. I'm done with the lion's share, it's written, and it's sitting there waiting to be gone through. Once gone through for errors such as spacing, I go back through it for more errors like spelling, and misuse of words, and then I go through it again with my fluffing and stuffing. This time I'm using AI to help.

    I have a 10-page NOTE treatment that I've collected over the past few weeks, and I'll go through them and eliminate them as I add them to the text. If I don't use the notes for this book, I'll consider adding them to the next book for reference purposes that way I can tie this book to another book. I do that so folks who read all the books in the series will have threads they can cling to and wrap around their brains. They'll recognize something or someone from another book about Posh and they'll say "OK I remember that!" I love that.

    So, the book is done and I can sit back and say whether or not I really like it. I do. I like the way it ended, I like the way it meandered and made its way through the introduction and the first few chapters to piece things together so that the climax and the resolution make more sense. I think I like how I used AI to fine-tune the details and remind me to use words that I often skip over; and words that I hadn't thought of. Words are kind of important in a book!! Just sayin'.

    Tomorrow I'll fluff and stuff with the notes, and on Sunday I'll lean into it for the spacing, spelling, and other errors. I need to build it from 70,000 words to about 86,000 which will not be difficult. I have 10 pages of notes, and that's more than 8000 words without being fluffed. I have more than 200 bullet points to add to the mix. I have to go through the book to find where the best place to add the tidbits is, and if I like it enough, I'll expand on the idea and add another paragraph to the already overstuffed chapter. I do that quite a bit actually.

    So, that's the beginning of my weekend!! Fun times!! I can't wait. Let's hope I can get it out by this time next week. I'd love to have the thing up and published by June 1. Woot!!

PHOTO CREDIT:  Me. I may change the words on the back. This was just an example of what it would look like.