Finishing a Novel

Authors express a variety of feelings upon completion of a novel: exhilaration, letdown, relief, anticipation...and the list goes on and on. I just completed my middle grade novel, DON'T LOOK BACK, and am going through a variety of emotions. Certainly I feel the exhilaration of writing the last chapter and typing the words "THE END." But I also miss working on it. My mentor, Claudia Mills, once paid me a wonderful compliment. She told me she loved my characters so much she wished they were real and she could go visit them. Her words were music to my ears. The truth of the matter is, I miss the characters myself. I loved creating their stories--their challenges, setbacks and accommplishments, and putting words in their mouths only they would say because that's how I created them. I've begun sending the manuscript out to literary agencies, and pray that someday I'll see that book in libraries and stores where children can meet my characters and hopefully love them, too. Now, it's time to shift my attention to a brand new story with brand new characters, all with their own gifts, faults and challenges. I can hardly wait to meet them!