Well, friends, as I’ve said, The Professor of Eventide is done and ready for its close-up. The first two reviews have come in and they are both five stars. Thank heavens!
The funny thing is, I’m almost sorry it’s done. It has been quite a challenge bringing this story to life. On the one hand, I’m looking forward to getting back to all the things I love that I’ve been leaving by the wayside as I’ve pushed through to get ‘er done. I’ve been living inside this story for three years (I had the idea for about a year before I ever began writing it) and it’s odd to realize that my experience telling this tale is at its end.
Finishing a book, as in pushing through the hard parts and fighting those moments when I wanted to give up, is a joy all to itself. As a long-time writer and writing teacher, I’ve spoken to so many people who want to write but never found a way to get started. Simply getting up the nerve to sit down, open your notebook or open your computer file, begin your story, and then finish it, is a win all by itself. I’m not talking about the publishing process or any kind of public success. I’m talking about the act of having a goal and seeing it through no matter the challenges.
This newly finished novel is my 15th book, and I know from experience that there’s no immediate validation attached to completing a book. There’s no applause. The other day I said to my mother, “I think my book is finally finished.” Her answer was, “That’s nice.” That’s nice. This book took me nearly two years from first draft to final draft. That’s two years of constant rewrites, completely reimagining certain sections, coming to learn who the characters are from the inside out. All righty then. The lesson is that you can’t look to external validation when you finish your creative projects. Even from your mother.
I’ve learned that writing “The End” isn’t about how the book will be received or whether it will ever be read by anyone else. Of course, we all hope for those things. Finishing a book is about honoring the promise you made to yourself when the idea was still fragile and uncertain. After years of watching television mysteries, and after months of reading them, I decided to write one of my own. In retrospect, I realize that I began with a very flimsy idea. I’m a discovery writer, so I didn’t begin with a detailed outline. I had a general idea of what I wanted to do, and it took me a long time to see that idea come to life on the page. What I had, even when I didn’t know what exactly the story wanted to be, was the willingness to keep going.
When you write various genres like I do, it’s as if I have to learn how to write a book all over again each time I begin. Each book has something different to teach me. Some of my books (including this one) have demanded patience. Others have demanded courage, or endurance, or restraint. Some have demanded all of the above. This particular book forced me to sit with doubt. I was ready to give up more than once. But through the process of sticking with it, I learned how solve structural problems I didn’t know existed. I learned how to make decisions without certainty, and I learned how to stay focused when inspiration fades and the work of bringing a new world to life begins.
How did I feel when I realized that the book was done? Relief was the first thing, certainly. This dark, Gothic world I’ve worked so hard to bring to life was suddenly there on the page, no longer requiring anything of me. This dark murder mystery, yelling in my ear for the better part of two years, suddenly fell silent. The characters have had their say. The murderer was caught. The pieces are connected. There’s nothing left for me to ponder or figure out or choices to be made. Instead of being the writer who brings the world to life, I became the story’s editor, checking that everything was correct.
When I read other posts about writing, so often they focus on the publishing aspect and marketing strategies Such posts are important because we want people to read and enjoy these worlds we’ve worked so hard to bring to life. But none of those moments can happen unless we actually complete our projects.
Every time I finish a book, I learn something new. This time, I learned that all story problems have a solution if I take the time and maintain the patience to solve them. I was also reminded that more than anything, writing a book is work. The discipline to sit down every day and work on my manuscript, even when it was hard, is what saw me through to the finish line. When future books become challenging, and I know they will, I’ll know that I have that stick-to-it-ness required to write the story the way I see it in my mind’s eye. That was my main goal while writing this book. I knew that if I could get the words on the page to match the story as I saw it in my head then I’d have something special that readers might enjoy. I haven’t felt that way about a book since Her Dear & Loving Husband, which was published in 2011.
The Professor of Eventide will be published on April 7, 2026. There are still ARC copies available. If you’d like to join the street team and receive an Advanced Review Copy for review purposes, fill out the form here.