Goodbye

Lack of motivation, energy and desire. That's what I've been experiencing for the last month and a half with this manuscript. And now that I've finished the first set of revisions and polish (still have to cycle through for technical elements like grammar and repetition of words), I finally realize why it has been so hard. This is my goodbye novel. I'm ending the mystery series with characters I've grown to love. It's like writing your will. Everyone puts it off, because to deal with it means to confront your own mortality. In a way, I guess this final book in the series is forcing me to confront my own mortality. It was so hard to say goodbye to the characters and I kept putting off the ending forever.

I have to be honest here. I did tear up when Marty and Remi had their reconciliation scene. Not sure if the kids will get it, but for me it was a very tough moment to write and reread. I'm going to get my wife to read the manuscript tomorrow while I hit the gym and run off a week of sitting on my butt and eating carbs. Hope she likes it. If all goes well, I'll spend Monday doing clean up, and I'll send the revisions to my editor for the next round.

As hard as this process has been, I'm thankful for the experience. Lesson learned: if I write another series, don't plan an end to it. It's way to hard on the heart.