Finished first draft of first novel!

In 2014, I participated in National Novel Writing Month, an annual event that encourages participants to write the first 50,000 words of a novel during the month of November. I achieved that goal, but it took me another nine years to write the remaining 40,000 words to complete the manuscript, due to the commitments of career, family, and life in general. I finally finished it last month, a feat that means I can now call myself a novelist!

The title is Prize Patrol, and the first rough draft of a description reads as follows: “Prize Patrol host Justin Rhodes hands out millions of dollars every week, but while he gives prize winners one of the happiest moments of their lives, he can’t find any such moments in his own. Until he meets Amy, who turns his life upside down—which, in his case, just might be right side up.”

The manuscript is now in the hands of beta readers, and when I get their feedback, I’ll jump headfirst into revisions and decide what the next steps for this novel will be. Whatever else happens, I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment for finally finishing it!

The finished manuscript, pictured with the aptly named reward to myself