Open Novella Contest 2022: I DID IT! I FINISHED IT! | The WriMo Blog, with E. H.

Hello, writer friends! Yes, I did it! I finished my novella, THE LARK'S PEARL! The 20,000 words are done! I cannot even begin to tell you the joy I have right now. It's euphoric.

I waited until today to announce finishing the book because I've heard other authors say it is good to let the book sit after it's finished. So, yes; I let my book sit for almost a week. And then I went back to just read it with fresh eyes. It is so good! This is a book I would proudly publish. It's already out in the world. But publishing this book, hmm...

I have next to no money to my name, so I am still not able to get my necklace reward. However, this month is flying by so fast, I will have it in my hands in no time. Additionally, I've finalized my paperback interior for the paperback copy I am hoping to get printed in the next couple of weeks. It looks so pretty. The icing on the cake: Character art.

I spent three hours adjusting and modifying some of the faces I already created on the Artbreeder app. I tweaked each face until I found myself saying: "Yeah, that's so-n-so." I've already been using the art in some of my book banners, on Wattpad. And I have included them in my paperback, which I have actually been working on throughout this process. I just felt the quicker I had it completed, the better chance I have to get the copy printed.

Finally, at the time I write this post, I do still need to write the epilogue I have planned for this book. I also have some bonus chapters for specific scenes from the prince's perspective. Which I plan to keep as a surprise for a special edition hardback book. I cannot promise that I will publish it in the next six months. So I do think I will upload the chapters to Wattpad, for a limited time, and then when I am ready to publish the book, I will take them down.

As for what happens now, I will continue to update this blog with my progress in the Open Novella Contest. Such as whether I make it into Round 3 or not, and whether I make it to the Long/Short Lists, or even become a finalist. When that news comes around, this will be one of the places I share it. (If you look at the sidebar of this blog, you will see a Campsite link list; my TikTok is linked there and I share on TikTok almost daily.)

There are still 6 weeks left in the "writing" stage. There are many participants who are still working hard to meet their word counts. I have such high admiration for all of these writers. I have been reading some of the entries when time permits, and they are amazing.

Thanks so much for coming along on this journey with me. I hope you stick around as I do post on the WriMo Blog whenever I participate in monthly challenges, CampNaNo and NaNoWriMonths. If that is something you are interested in reading about, stick around!

Stay safe, stay awesome. See you in the funny papers!