I’m getting ready to print out the manuscript for the first draft of The Whitehawk Legion.

This is kind of a big moment for me right now. Maybe in years to come, when I look back at the beginnings of my writing career, it won’t seem like such a huge deal. In fact, it might seem like I was crazy to ever think it would make a good piece of writing. But at 36,141 words, it’s the longest story I’ve ever written, and I’m considering it my first novel–even though the word count doesn’t quite support that label.

And there is more to come. As I was putting the finishing touches on the last chapter, I was thinking back to a year ago when I first had the seeds of the idea, and how little my excitement for the project has waned since then. True, there was a period of some months when it got put on the back burner because I got stuck on plot details, but they just needed time to germinate and unwind themselves. I’m not pretending I have a masterpiece on my hands, and I can see a lot of places that need a lot of work, but overall I’m pleased with the outcome. I managed to produce fourteen chapters, putting up three at a time every two weeks on the blog, and never missed a deadline. It’s my first experience with truly disciplined writing, and its been fantastic. A terror at times, but fantastic. I had days where I wasn’t sure I would make it, but then sanity kicked in and I realized I had plenty of time…if I just sat down in the chair and wrote.

My excitement for the story, and future stories about Miss Emily Monroe, pales only in comparison to my excitement for my next writing project. Which is going to be a major science fiction epic. Or perhaps a fantasy set in a magical apartment building. Or stories from a small town in the Twilight Zone. Or…

Too many ideas. Too much potential. Got to get published sometime soon.