TheMindborn

All the material is finally in my editor’s hands.

Today I finished the last full revision of the book.

In the last few weeks I have lived immersed in the manuscript, doubting every line, every paragraph, and preparing it for March, for my editor’s eyes. It is a strange time, at once exhausting and deeply meaningful.

I have the feeling this will be the year of the Mindborn.

It’s almost Christmas time, and this is my first Christmas I’ll spend with Virginia and all the Mindborn.

Today I am over excited because something beautiful came into my book path.

So many things to be thankful for. Each year the Thanksgiving time is one of the best times of the year, the time in which you stop and think about how many blessings are in your life. Maybe I adore this festivity more because we do not have it in Italy, and I feel that we miss a lot of the family time without the rush for presents, in which you look your family in the eyes and thank each one of them around the table.

Today feels a little unreal.I’ve just finished the beta version of The Mindborn. It’s strange to think how many versions came before, and very hard to know if I missed anything good along the way, if this version is really the strongest. If the first chapter is strong, or if it would have been better to use another piece of the story instead. But at one point you need to jump, and this is my time.

Sometimes you describe a character’s outfit to give a hint of who they are, to let the reader get a sense of their presence before they even speak. The way I pictured him in that dancing panda hoodie was my perfect image, rich in silliness and great for the character entrance. I had no idea that as the story unfolded, I would end up spreading tears and pain over the same image that had first made me giggle.

When a chapter finally clicks, I save the document and breathe.Sometimes I need the space after a storm of sentences. Sometimes I feel the peace in knowing that I finally hit what I was longing to achieve. My daily idea is that closing a chapter can be a moment to pause and enjoy, but many times my mind, instead of switching off, keeps whispering the next line of the story. If I don’t write it right away, I might miss the spark, and so I forget the pause, the lunch, the kids to pick up at school.

Before I open my manuscript, I line up the essentials: a tea mug and the notebook where I keep writing pieces when I'm not in front of the screen, pieces that come to me at the most unexpected times, when I don't think I'm thinking about my book, and yet I guess I am. So, tea mug and notebook, and I can begin.