Several weeks ago I posted an entry, “Finished!” which dealt with the thrill of finishing the first draft of a book and my hopes and fears for said book. Remember? Well, it’s been a busy week for that little book. My agent sold it on proposal to Harlequin’s new Kimani line. I signed the contract this week and am thrilled to pieces.

But guess what? My new editor actually wants to read the book. The whole book. Not just the first three chapters and synopsis.

Unbelievable.

Now it’s time to pull out that manuscript, dust it off, read it, and fix it. The extra 5,000 words? Got to go. All those loose ends? Gotta tie ‘em up. Purple prose? It’s outta here. Bye-bye adverbs. Well … let’s not get carried away. Bye-bye MOST adverbs.

My mission impossible, which I chose to accept when I signed the contract, is to whip this manuscript into shape. By April 15th. Of this year. Less than two months from right now.

That’s where things get tricky. Before this I had all the time in the world to turn books around. Now I’ve gotta be both quick and good. Frankly, I’m not sure I’m up to the challenge. I played around with my first manuscript for, oh, let’s say a year. The second manuscript? Two-plus years. Third manuscript? Eleven months or so. This one? Less than eight months from start to finish.

Gulp.

I know what you’re thinking. Lots of authors churn out two, three, heck, even five novels a year. Nora Roberts, last time anyone checked, was up to three hundred books a year. Stop whining, Ann, you’re thinking. If Nora can do it, you can do it.

I just have this to say: Do I LOOK like Nora Roberts?

Oh, and one more thing. Just hours after I’d mailed off the signed contract to my Harlequin editor, my Kensington editor’s assistant called to say she’s sending me the copy edits to TROUBLE and expects them back on March 1st. Of this year. Ten days from now.

YIKES!

Since I don’t want to have to give back the advance money anyone’s paid me, I better get started. Well, no. First I’m going to eat about a pound of chocolate candy, wash it down with a brownie or two, and then I’m going to get started. Wish me luck.