FINISHED!!!!!!

[Judy Nichols]

I just clicked the send button forwarding the completely edited version of Tree Huggers to my editor. It's done, it's over, it's gone, it's an SEP (Somebody Else's Problem). This thing been dogging me all summer, and I'm just glad that I don't have to think about it any more.

I'd have sent it out yesterday, but some computer glitch turned every quotation mark into a vertical line and I had to go through the entire file to change every one manually (Yes, I thought about using "find and replace" but it only searches for characters on the keyboard).

Of course I'm not naive enough to believe that this is the end. Or, even the beginning of the end. I've been through the editing process before and I know, as Winston Churchill said, this is the end of the beginning. The manuscript will come back with more red and blue editing marks. I know I'll correct them and it will come back again. And again.

But for now, I'm going to relax, crack open a couple of cold ones, and enjoy the rest of the summer.