turning in the draft (a.k.a. – the great unknown)

<Pan's Labyrinth, Picturehouse/Warner Brothers >

We turned in the draft of Book 2 today to our editors, Jen & Julie, at Little, Brown. And this is how it feels.

It's like staring into a place so frightening, yet enticing that you literally can't take a step. Don't get me wrong, Jen & Julie are incredibly supportive. They are not scary. But in a weird way, your editors become these surrogate parents that you are terrified to disappoint. You want their approval. You want them to see how hard you worked, to feel like you put everything you had into it. Because, in our case, we did.

Margie and I tortured ourselves over the draft (even though J & J remind us that it's a first draft). WE can't accept that. We want to give them everything we've got. Especially, after our experience with BC. We learned so much from them & we want them to see the difference.

The draft is also the beginning of Book 2. The beginning of what all of you will eventually read, and that's even more pressure. Because for those of you who fall in love with Beautiful Creatures (hopefully), we don't want to disappoint you the second time around. We want Book 2 to be everything you will hope for after reading BC – a sequel worthy of the praise and loyalty so many of you have already shown us.

So now, I have to distract myself. As any Southerner would say, 'Idle hands are the Devil's helpers, right?' So what will I be doing besides:

~ driving Margie crazy?

~ reorganizing every closet and drawer in my house?

~ finishing Prophecy of the Sisters, Fragile Eternity, and a stack of other books?

~ hatching secret plans?

~ twittering away?

I'll be painting a new painting for this semi-blank wall in my LR. (Margie is saying, 'What blank wall, you lunatic?') But I don't have a choice. I'll go stir crazy if I don't do it. So stay tuned…

I also have a surprise post for Monday, featuring someone we know and love. (No hints.)

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