Woo-hoo!

This is me, jumping for joy!

Well, not quite. I'm bigger and wider and rounder right now, and not really capable of jumping at all. Not that I've tried it. But I'm pretending that this girl is jumping in my stead, since I can't do any of the other traditional celebratory things either. No uncorking a bottle of bubbly for me. Or shouting my joy from the rooftops (though it would be pretty hilarious to watch me try to get up there in my rotund state). My celebration is going to be a quiet affair today. I might sleep. Actually, that sounds like pure heaven...

Why am I so thrilled, you ask? Because... my book is done! Hip-hip-hooray! The major edits are complete and I'm just sifting through the final tweaks. It's a leisurely job, something I really enjoy doing because it allows me to sit back and enjoy the fruit of my labors. And let me tell you, every book is a labor. Sure, a labor of love, but also a labor like childbirth--long, hard, painful, and frustrating. Yup, there even comes a point partway through where you wish you had never gotten yourself into this mess in the first place. Or you need to blame someone: You did this to me! But, oh, the joy when you're done... All the suffering that you had to go through to get to that final period is suddenly a thing of the past. What suffering? This book is a masterpiece!

And that's where I'm at right now. I love this book. I'm crazy about Julia and her fantastic family. I'm sad to say goodbye. But everything is ending on a good note, and I'm very satisfied with where my trio of Julia books have taken me. I hope you do, too.

Stay tuned! I'm sure you'll be hearing a lot more about my third Julia story in the coming weeks and months. I might even need you to help me choose a title. I'm so bad at titles...

Thanks for letting me happy dance all over my blog!