Thanks to the lovers, the dreamers, and you

On February 8, 2025, I finished the first draft of my murder mystery/detective thriller manuscript!

After 253 days, over 96,000 words, and 32 chapters, the first draft is done.

I had to write that twice because I can’t quite believe it.

I know that there are scary and infuriating things happening in the world and in my country in particular. And I am frightened and furious over many of them. But I also think it’s important to celebrate our wins when they happen. For me, finishing a draft is always something to celebrate.

Writing brings me a very particular kind of joy. The forming of ideas and committing them to paper, especially in the form of a story, is a feeling for which there is no equal, for me. It’s especially significant that I’ve finished this original story on the day that was my aunt’s birthday.

My aunt passed away in 2022. She was an artist not exactly like me, but she was someone I could talk to about my art and creative process. I can’t do that with many people in my life. She was one person who was content to just listen to me, though. She liked hearing about how I came up with characters, the way I thought through plots, my interest in research and the significance of names. There are many days when I wish she were still here, but this day – her birthday and the day I finished this story – is a hard one to be without her. I like to think that she’s glad I stuck to my guns and saw this one through.

This is only the first leg of this story’s journey. From here, I need to move into the edit process. I’m not afraid of it, though. I know that there are chunks of this story that I need to fix, but I want to bask in this feeling of accomplishment for a little while, at least. I think I’ve earned it.

There are lots of people I need to thank for their support on my journey thus far. My partner, my writer friends, my story coach, my artist. Everyone who’s followed along with this blog experiment and dropped me a note, shared my progress, or even just clicked a heart.

If you’d like to follow my editing process, drop me a line here or on any of my other media so I’ll know to share how things are going. In the meantime, as the Muppets once sang, keep believing, keep pretending. Do what you set out to do.

TNT (if there is one).