Today I hit the Big 6-0, and I’m doing a happy dance to celebrate. I finished the sixtieth and last devotion for my book. Since the manuscript isn’t due to the publisher until January 1, you probably think I’m doing the overachiever thing. I assure you, I’m not.
In the next couple days, I’ll do a light edit on the eleven devotions in the final section of the book and paste them into a preliminary order, something I’ve already done to the first five sections. I still have to send individual devotions from the last two sections to anyone mentioned in them so they can give approval and suggestions. The introductions for all six sections need to be written, and then I’ll paste everything into a first draft of the entire manuscript, kind of like connecting strings of Christmas lights.
But wait, there’s more. Once the first draft is all together, I will send the electronic manuscript to several cold readers. They’ll have two weeks to read it and make comments. Then I’ll consider their comments and incorporate many of them.
But that’s not all. After those changes are made, I’ll print a hard copy and edit it all by myself. My goal is to have everything done and the manuscript sent to Discovery House Publishers before Christmas. Sort of an early present to myself. Thinking about what remains to be done overwhelms me, especially since I have to squeeze in baking pies for Thanksgiving, making holiday Chex mix with Mom, and Christmas shopping.
But I refuse to worry about those things today. Today is all about hitting the Big 6-0 and doing a happy dance. Life is good!
