Countdown to Disaster, Part Deux

(Reposted from 07/07/08)

I named our timeline to finish the end of the book "Countdown to Disaster" as something part poke, part joke. A motivational poke because KL and I still need inspiration to get through the final preparations for tomorrow; a joke because I know, of course, hands-down, without a doubt that we're going to finish everything on time. Ne, KL? =)

Anyway, as KL and I are write our free time away trying to get SFA into shape for our 7/7 deadline, I'm getting the opportunity to reflect on everything we've done. Watching everything come together is both stunningly startling and sumptuously satisfying.

The end of a book has always been my inner-writer's weakness. It's *hard* to finish a book, and quite difficult to tie all your characters and plots together and make meaning out of all the writing that has come before. It's something that I've never really been able to do, so as the first time actually writing and finishing an entire book, the end comes as a rewarding and pleasing surprise.

As KL has pointed out, all our scenes are falling together quite easily because of the pieces and clues we've laid throughout the rest of the book. Our hardest task is, well, firstly, remembering all those pieces, and secondly, weaving together something that comes out quickly but still retains the high quality of writing we've managed to maintain throughout the book. I think we're doing a good job. An old proponent of waiting for inspiration to strike, I used to be skeptical when I read in writing books that you should set aside time for writing every day and practice it. Now that KL and I have been writing pretty much every day, I have to say that coming up with and phrasing our ideas is becoming much easier because of the time we spend on it. Not that we don't have our blocks every now and then, but we still manage to work through them.

At any rate, I look forward to being able to share the rest of the book with all its readers as we start updating more frantically.

I hope everyone comes back to read the second book, coming out 08/08/2008!

<3,

JLY