What Happens When You Finish a Book

I have some writer friends, professionals who make much of their living from writing, who finish one book and immediately start another. No downtime. No decompression. No wait between. I don't make my living from writing and don't usually have to do that.



l declared my latest book done this morning and sent it in to the Editor. About 73,000 words. A western/historical. I understand there may be edits down the line but for now I can let that work slip out of my mind. Or can I? Easier said than done.



The first part of the book was a bit of a struggle but once the characters jelled it became a lot of fun. And now it's done. And I don't have another book contract immediately. I have a few minutes to breath. But on my walk I found myself working over the ending of the book again. I had to make myself stop. And last night when I went to bed, I had to force my thoughts into unusual channels because I was not still writing the book, only giving it the final read through to make sure it was as good as I could make it.



Now, what am I going to do with myself today? Well, if you're reading this then you know one thing I'm doing. It's not a book but I'm going to write something today anyway. This blog, and probably a short flash fiction I've been asked to do. But not the book I've lived with for the past four months (give or take).



And what will I do tonight when I lay down to sleep? Every night for months now I've been living inside that book for a little while when I laid down. Tonight I won't need to. Tonight my thoughts will be free. That's kind of scary. https://bit.ly/45UirMy | https://folkd.com/user/replicawatches1254?sort_mode=most_recent | https://www.linkedin.com/posts/watches-replica-54650427a_chcuttabrlicvbuabrscwnabrdcwfngabrtrongabraudemarsabrpiguetabrroyalabroakabr15400-activity-7072394738103902208-OLQj?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop | https://twitter.com/ReplicaWat53428/status/1666629302719500288 | https://replicawatches1254.wordpress.com/2023/06/08/cach-tranh-bi-lua-boi-audemars-piguet-royal-oak-15400-gia/ | https://www.pinterest.com/pin/1079456604417787253 | https://dribbble.com/shots/21678073--i-u-tra-th-gi-i-h-ng-gi-C-u-chuy-n-v-Audemars-Piguet-Royal | https://www.patreon.com/posts/su-that-xau-xi-84242577?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link | https://www.deviantart.com/replicawatches1254/status-update/Bo-v-khon-u-t-966146560 | https://www.flickr.com/photos/198463785@N05/52958941909/in/dateposted-public/