Draft… Done

Well, that was a whirlwind. Neon Glaze, the sci-fi novel I started writing in January, is finished. At least finished enough that I’m comfortable querying it to agents.

To lift a paragraph from my query letter:

Evelyn Price is an anxious wreck. She has panic attacks, she blurts out embarrassing thoughts, and she blames herself for her sister’s death. Evelyn avoids people like the plague, until she falls for Nessie, the tech-savvy woman with the kind eyes that Evelyn meets at her favorite donut shop, the Neon Glaze. Nessie introduces Evelyn to the Oona brain implant, breakthrough technology that lets you upload AI-generated dreams into your subconscious. Evelyn can think of no greater joy than to sleep all day and have wild dreams with Nessie while avoiding ever leaving her apartment. It gets even better for Evelyn when she discovers how to reanimate her deceased sister in her dreams. Initially this brings Evelyn comfort, but soon she becomes hopelessly addicted to her dreaming existence. The lines between dream and reality become blurred, as do the lines between death and donuts, and Evelyn must find a way to wade back to the waking world no matter the cost.

It’s a weird thing creating something, poring over it and nurturing it to life, to then shift to putting your creation out into the world. A writer friend of mine said it’s like dropping your kids off at preschool for the first time. And it does feel that way.

A few thoughts to mark the moment:

I’m proud that I completed this in the timeline I set out;

As I read back on the book, it’s… really good (IMHO), and that’s a uniquely wonderful feeling;

Time to see if this thing has legs.