the final chapter

So excited! Have almost finished writing the book. I now have eighty five thousand words saved and just those few extra scenes to write that I told you about. And then it's just a matter of tweaking it up a bit. Should easily be able to get it done by Christmas, which is my self-imposed deadline (but will also mean it qualifies for the Romantic Novelists Association new writers scheme, which accepts manuscripts from January 1st). I mean, I know it's a long shot. How likely is it to actually get picked up by an agent or a publisher? But it means that I have a chance, however slim, of achieving my ambition and becoming a published author by the time I'm forty (my other 'things to do before forty' list - which I compiled in my mid-twenties - included having kids and running a marathon, both of which I have done. Oh and I'm also supposed to have made a patchwork quilt, but we'll just gloss over that one, because it's never going to happen. Oddly, my 'to do before middle age' list didn't include any mention of career development. Good job too, being as my career had amounted to diddly squat, much to my parents' disappointment, I'm sure. I think they had be down as the future Sue Lawley, not some random soldier's trailing spouse - and although I confidently expect Son, Twin 1 and Twin 2 to become an astro-physicist, mountaineer and oscar-winning actress respectively, I will have to remember not to be upset when they don't...)

Anyway, must go and pick up parcels from post office now - it's ebay-tastic!