Finishing a Novel
Where is the finish line?
I’ve learned that I finish writing/preparing a novel several times, so many times I seem to say: “I’ve finished” nearly a dozen times. Even when done and through publishing, I feel at times more should and could be done. I finished the 2026 novel called “Captain Henry: 2½ Insurrections, 2 Wars, 1¼ Centuries and a Story of Love” well over a year ago given I am looking at “version 2024” in the filename. It is February 2026.
There exists a moment in 2024 when I leaned back in my squeak office chair thinking: “I’m done.” So many “done”s ago though. I don’t want to give you an elevator pitch on this novel. I wrote the dedication on 06 January 2022. I am fairly confident that I had the structure of the novel completed then because that dedication rings through the novel. I doubt I leaned back with a sense of accomplishment on that day, just tears and fears.
We have a deadline! We are me and SaraBelle, editor. The goal is to be ready for “Advance Review Copies” (ARC) by 01 March 2026. This will be another moment when I get to creak my chair back and say: “done”.
Yesterday, I finished the narration and audio editing here on my Vermont hilltop. Before finishing the audio, I got some solid feedback from SaraBelle. I missed a chapter. I had missed the opportunity near Chapter 18 to fully wrap up a sub-plot and put-to-bed a main character. I heard and saw what she pointed to instantly, and yet had failed to see that on my own.
Great editors are awesome. Novelling is teamwork. Let me restate: The best of novelling involves teamwork. I missed! She saw it. I fixed it in two hours with a new chapter 18. Then well reading the manuscript to tape, I recognized chapter 17 became a bit of an orphan. I saved a bit; tossed most; shifted chapters around; breathed; said “Done.” Another meeting with SarahBelle, consensus achieved and back to the mic for me.
SB, as I calls her, indicated that the final chapter need a stronger voice for the main character. A few deletes, a few additions, and a bit of craft. I waited three days, then read that final chapter again. I was a snot factory burning tissues and I must have swallowed some dry-ass cotton wool for I couldn’t breathe well. It is odd to find yourself laughing at your own work. It is even odder to cry at your own writing. It is not a sad story, guys. But when a good love story pulls together, schtuff happens at the eyes and nose.
The episode reminded me of a Kathleen Turner/Michael Douglas movie where Turner, who does write romance is balling (or maybe it was her agent). Oh well. Friggin’ tissues, man.
I record 17, 18, 19, and 20 during a two day effort, leaving me Chapter 21 “The Call” to read to tape. I gave that 12-minute chapter an entire day. It starts thus:
“Is this Brighid Doran?” The voice sounds overtly formal.
“Yes.” I hold my breath.
“My name is Ann Jackson. I am a member of the family support group for Lieutenant Musgrave’s unit.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I had recognized the Texas area code and her name appeared on the digital display. Fact piles on fact. My mouth is dry. My knuckles are turning white while I hold the 1980s-style almond-colored trim-line phone.
“I regret to inform you that Sarah Musgrave has been injured during combat operations. She is receiving the best possible medical care. She is alive.”
“What happened?” But I am not confident that I actually finished that sentence.
There were long sections with my face pulled away from the mic while I muttered: fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. I may have punched myself. But hey, when I read the line “I crack”, you will hear my voice crack when you listen to the audiobook. Call it good acting (sure).
Yay. Another “done” added to the stack of “done”s. The audiobook is done. SB is finishing the editing. When we send this to Catalyst Press to publish the ARCs in two weeks, we’ll all get to say: “done” again.
In late spring or early summer, we’ll see the ARCs with the temporary cover. Stack another accomplishment on the growing stack of “done”s. The focus goes into marketing and attending events promoting Captain Henry, promoting last year’s novel “Stolen Mountain”, and working to plug “The Little Ambulance War of Winchester County” when out there amongst real people and off of my snowy Vermont hill.
There is another set tick marks in September as the audiobook, ebook, and paperback cross the magical pub date.
Even when saying: “done” for the last time, I get the urge to go back.
A friend, a librarian, says she has trouble recommending “The Little Ambulance War of Winchester County” because the word “war” is in it. I used it tongue-in-cheek. I used it in the same spirit as the title “Milagro Bean Field Wars.” Friends have said: “oh this section is a bit long” blah, blah. Que sera, sera, amigos. At some point, a novel is done, finished, bound and on the shelf.