Waiting...the REAL Suspense

My latest novel's done, complete, finished. I've been through the line edits with my crit partner. It's been through the same with my agent. And now...now it's off to an editor with hopes that she'll love it and want to buy it.

There's nothing more I can do at this point but wait. I can't affect the outcome any longer -- the book's done and out there, a product to be sold, no longer my current beloved baby.

Oh, there's a period of mourning. A time to try to get it out of my system so I can move onto the next book. And then I have to force myself to forget. Not about the characters and their situations. But about the fact that I'm waiting for an answer. This is a slow business, and while the answer I want to hear may come soon, it also may not. And, as Tom Petty said, the waiting truly is the hardest part.

So, I'll do a little of this and a little of that. Re-read a few passages, just because I want to. And then, move on to the next. To write and love and nurture it to this very point, where I can send it out into the real world and see if it'll fly.

Mama birds have nothing on me.

Cheryl Walker