I know most of you reading this may not care. But - I'M DONE WITH MY NOVEL!!! I'M DONE I'M DONE I'M DONE!!!! OMFG. All 318 pages of it. Done. Finito.

All those days of replaying River Flows in You by Yiruma and Runaway World by Making April over and over again, and agonising over how best to move the story forward without making it all seem too cliched. All those days cooped up at home in front of my Word Processor. All those moments of joy and exhilaration when I actually felt proud of myself for writing this story. All those moments of self-doubt, too, when I felt I was wasting my time working so hard on something no-one cares about, much less read. All those days of losing myself in the world I have created.

Done. Over.

Strangely, I feel more depressed than I am satisfied. Don't get me wrong, I feel really accomplished and all, but it's still kind of sad, to see your novel come to an end. I don't intend to write a sequel to Lilies (that is, When the Lilies Turn Orange) because then it'll be too draggy. Connell's problem is solved, and the characters have come to a resolution. I don't wanna create a tension for the sake of it, you know?

I wonder if that's how first-time novelists feel when they come to the end of their debut novel. Well, technically speaking, Lilies isn't my debut. High Grounds is (in fact, there were a couple more stories that came before High Grounds, but they were so amateurish I don't regard them as debuts, more like 'trial novels'). But High Grounds never felt like the end to me, maybe because I always intended to write a sequel, so it's not like the world (the setting for the story) has ended, like it feels as though it has for Lilies.

I've been spending my morning scouting for literary agents. And I found one who does email queries. They'll reply in 5 to 10 days, they promise. Nelson Agency seems reputable enough. It specialises in YA (young adult) fiction and romance, chick-lit, etc. So this seems like the right agency to go to. I've sent in my query to Kristin Nelson. I just hope she'll reply. Nothing screams rude more than someone who doesn't reply your query.

In the process of editing now. If anyone is interested in reading it, please email me at jcxw2590@yahoo.com.sg. I'll send you a copy of the manuscript. But please give feedback if you're going to read it. That's my only condition. Your help will be greatly appreciated.