It’s a big day here, the birthdays of Celia and my brother Drew, the day before my work trip to Malawi … and the final day of National Novel Writing Month.

On November 2, I found a 500-word story I’d worked on years ago, and, on a whim, decided to turn it into a novel. The goal for National Novel Writing Month (fondly known as NanoWriMo) is 50,000 words in 30 days. I wasn’t sure I could do this, but I did some quick math and realized that if I wrote 1,667 words a day I could produce a novel. It wouldn’t be a great book, but it would be a book.

I’m proud to say that I crossed the finish line late last night with 50, 009. But I’m still trying to finish the novel. The  main character’s husband is stuck in Chicago when he needs to be in Lexington. The main character herself, a realtor, is juggling two important sales, at least one of which could tank. And there are other stray plot lines flying around like loose wires after a big storm.

In short, I need another another hour and another thousand words.

But then, I hope, I will be done.

Happy NaNoWriMo!

(A P.S. to this one. It took me several more hours, but I finally finished about 7 p.m. The final product is about 54,000 words. One of these days, I may actually read it!)