It is FINISHED!

Jesus once uttered these words.

Now I am uttering them too....but for entirely different reasons.

MY BOOK IS FINISHED!

For those of you who are not aware, I have been writing my first novel since I was in high school. I have always wanted to be a writer since I 'published' my first book in Year 2 called 'Monty Meets A Friend' , which was inspired by my toy monkey.  I got second prize at my school, but I wanted first.  I won the local public library's writing prize for my age group when I was 10.  In high school, I got one short story published in a magazine.  I was well and truly hooked.  If I had a good yarn to tell, then I wanted to tell it.

This idea for this novel came in late 1997 when I had just finished Year 9.  I walked out of the cinema, and it hit me.  A blinding light....an inspiration.  I have always loved Aussie Rules football.  Why not write a book about it?  And then my imagination gave birth to the characters of Brad Sinclair and Hayley Cooper, and the long journey began.

I started writing my first draft in Year 10.  I think I got to about five chapters when I decided I wasn't happy with it and binned it.  The TEE and then four years at university followed when I had no time to work on it, but the plot continued to thicken, and the characters continued to develop in my head.  I had a two month gap of unemployment between finishing uni and getting a job which I spent starting my second draft, complete with a new title.  Full-time work followed, and I grew more and more frustrated as my time for my one of my greatest loves began to dwindle.  I felt like a part of myself was dying, and it was time for drastic action.  I approached my work about switching to part-time which, after a long battle, eventually happened.  So, in 2007, Wednesdays became my 'writing day'.

My engagement to Duncan followed which interrupted my writing momentum (not that I blame my man) and I had a gap between November 2007 and May 2008 where I did no writing at all.  After I was married and settled on the farm, my writing began again (and the book had yet another title change).

Through fears, tears and many years, my first novel is finally reality, and this day is very, very sweet for me.

Now, let the editing begin.  Bring it on, baby!

I'M GONNA ROCK DA HOUSE!