I Did It!

I did it!  I finished my novel!  City of the Giants stands at 80,014 words and 309 pages.  Yippee!  Wow, what a month it’s been.  I’ve had a wonderful time creating this story.  Now comes the hard part of rewriting and editing.  But first I’ve got to get Christmas taken care of.  A little more sleep would be a good idea too.

Excerpt from City of the Giants:

He spoke so softly that at first I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right.  “Actually, I’m not that interested in the relics.  What I’m after is knowledge about the Giants themselves.  I plan to travel between the fractal planes and make contact with them.”

            I gasped.  “But that’s impossible.”

            “No, it’s merely difficult.  I’ve already done it — the traveling part, that is.”

            My hands trembled.  A roaring wind rushed through my head.  I should never have come here.  I should gather up my books and bag, head for the bathroom, put on my disguise, and go home.  I was sitting across from a mad man.  Magician or not, what he proposed was impossible, definitely illegal, and very, very dangerous.   

            “If it’s that easy, what do you need with me?”

            Sean frowned slightly.  “I don’t think that at your present level of education you could understand the mathematics involved.  Suffice it to say that I need a focal point.  You have inherent, latent qualities that would be of use to me.”  He picked up my cap, which had been resting on the side of the table, and thoughtfully twirled it in his hands.  “Did you make this?”

            “Ah, no.  Fran Storm, from the market, makes them.”  The embroidered snowflakes on my cap sparkled as Sean studied them.  They’d never done that before.  An uneasy feeling went through me.  After a moment, he set it back down.    

            I studied him.  What lay beneath that calm, intelligent face?  “What’s so important that I would risk my life for it?”

            He leaned forward, his expression earnest and deadly serious.  “How about the chance to find a real cure, not only for your grandmother, but for all the people in the Ring?  The chance to be healed, to see the Wall torn down?  To be free to go anywhere in the world and have real careers and lives?  To know that your children would be born alive, that they would grow up without the fear of dying of the radiation sickness or the plague?”

            A vast longing seized me.