Done.

Done.  Finished at 2:35 in the afternoon, 2/11/13.

DEATH OF AN IMMORTAL is done.  First draft, at least.

It turned out to be 68K words, which is about 8K more than I expected just a few days ago.  I kept thinking I was writing the last chapter, but it turned out I was writing the second to the last chapter.  Linda says I should have a little wrapup dialogue at the end, but for now I'm done.  I'll add a couple paragraphs later.

I've already sent it off to a couple of readers.

It turned out well.  Every scene felt right.  I need to set it aside for a couple of weeks and gain some perspective, but I suspect most of the changes will be minor, not major.  Which is a relief.

I read the last third of it to Linda.  She is incredibly patient with me and supportive.  In reading it, I again got the sense that everything is in it's proper place and feels right, but it could probably be fleshed out slightly.  It turned out to be more dramatic and dialogue driven than anything I've ever done.  Which shows growing confidence, I think.

I'm setting it aside for a couple of weeks.  Come back to it hopefully with some perspective.  Let the doubts creep in now that they can't derail me.

Again, I have this strange feeling of a sudden hole in my life.  Like I've finished reading a good book and don't have anything to replace it with.  Only the hole is bigger than that.  At the same time, the constant pressure to finish (which is self-imposed, admittedly) is gone.  I'm used to have that constant nagging "what's next" feeling.

Now -- in the broader context -- the question again is:  What's next?

I can go in all kinds of directions.  The most useful would probably to be to do the second book in the LORE fantasy world.  I'd like the make it a trilogy, at least.

I'm again taking a longer term view of my writing career.  Doing each step as it needs to be done, no sooner, no later.  It will take patience, and some help from my friends, but there is a clear path I can take.

Technically, I'm not the best at what I'm going to try to do.  I'll have to get lots of help along the way.

Instinctively, I know what I need to do, in terms of promotion.   But it isn't my usual style.  I've never been good at promoting myself.  My store is a testament to that.  I succeed despite not advertising, or promoting myself in any way.  Not because I have a moral objection, or I think I'm better than that, but because up to now, I've just never been all that effective at it.  So why waste money and time?

Still, it's very clear that just throwing it up online isn't going to work.  It has to be better planned than that.

But I've done the hardest part -- I've created the content.