When is a story finished?

It's amazing all of the changes that come to  mind -- the moment I mail off my manuscript.

Just before Thanksgiving, I mailed off an over 90,000-word manuscript. I'd worked on this for months, rewritten, edited over and over and over again.

But there must be something about dropping it in the mail that makes the plot suddenly become clear. I wanted to chase down the mail truck and hijack my manuscript.

However, since I've been here before, I jotted down notes as the changes came to me. It was the first time I saw the whole book and could see the holes as if I'd fired a shotgun through all 432 pages.

So I'm in rewrite/edit mode. It's not a bad place to be. I know this book. I know these characters. I know what I have to do. Fortunately, my wonderful agent and editor have also given me input.

I've learned a lot over the years and the almost 60 books I've written and had published -- although a lot of days I feel like a beginner. But the one thing I am sure of is if a reader doesn't see the same character I do, then I didn't get that character on the page. If I have to explain my plot or my character's motivation, then I didn't do my job.

I've also learned that input only makes a book better. This one has been read by four readers so far, one an agent and two editors. The fourth, an avid reader who assured me that the story is there. (You need one person who reads your manuscript and loves it. Preferably not a relative.)

Now comes a couple of large things and a bunch of little things before the book goes to production and ends up in print. I've seen the cover. It is beautiful. I'm getting excited -- just as I do with every story that through trial and error becomes a book.

In the meantime, it is December in Montana. This photo was from last year but it is snowing right now!