DONE!! 50,184 Words!!

Well, I finished just before 11 pm on the 30th day. I coasted past 50,000 words with my epilogue. I just read the letter that Chris Baty wrote at the end of the book (well, not quite the end, but I don't pay attention to the editing part), and as always, it brought me to tears.
We ARE brave and amazing for doing this, and yes, a little crazy. Since we've all done this before, perhaps it isn't seen as the same kind of achievement, but it is damn hard to write a damn novel in 30 days, as we can all attest to.
I just snuck upstairs to tell Liam that I was finished my book. He said "Oh, good. It was ripping my life apart." Seems he inherited my flair for the dramatic. In any case, fellow novelers, I salute you. WE ARE AWESOME!!

I will leave you with the ending of my novel... to my sisters... this is for you:

Gordon was working feverishly at the bar, delivering both mad cap hilarity, with a Tom Cruise-esque flair, and healthy portions of Boo!Bie Brew, which had become a Jackie’s Place special. The customers loved Gordon, and there were many requests for him to perform his well known and inimitable dance routine to Fefe Dobson’s monster hit “Ghost”, which he performed nightly on the top of the bar, like a caped and masked Coyote Ugly. But tonight was Hope’s night. Gordon would do nothing to upstage the debut of Aerochix.
As the lights dimmed in Jackie’s Place, the crowd buzzed excitedly, awaiting what would surely be a legendary addition to the reputation the bar had as always having the best music. As Katie Desman softly played the opening strains of Dream On, Hope took the stage, decked in leather, her hair teased and her lips pouted, she was breathtaking. With the lights on her, she began the song:
Every time I look in the mirror
All these lines on my face getting clearer
The past is gone
It goes by, like dusk to dawn
Isn't that the way
Everybody's got their dues in life to pay

As she finished the verse, she backed away from the centre of the stage, where another person was stepping into the light. It was Grace. She had also inherited her mother’s lovely singing voice, and she continued the song where Hope had left off:

Yeah, I know nobody knows
where it comes and where it goes
I know it's everybody's sin
You got to lose to know how to win

The crowd applauded wildly, loving every moment of the duet. When the third Storey sister took the stage, the crowd went insane. Prudence sang:

Half my life
is in books' written pages
Lived and learned from fools and
from sages
You know it's true
All the things come back to you …

At the conclusion of the song, the three sisters fell to their knees, arms intertwined, singing with stunning falsetto voices into magenta scarf decorated microphones. Three sisters, who looked so alike, their voices raised in song… it was stunning and beautiful to see. There wasn’t a dry eye in Jackie’s Place that night. It was a triumph. And every person there who had a sister called her that night to tell her that they loved her. And every person who didn’t have any sisters at all felt a little sad, as though they had missed out on something truly wonderful in life. And if I can let you in on a little secret… they have. There is nothing better in this world than the love of your sisters.

The End