Edits, Christmas Trees, and Slush Piles

So I turned in my edits -- hurrah! Of course, there will be another round starting next week which I actually think is great. I feel like the manuscript is *this* close to being the best I can make it and I really do believe that another round will get it there.

Because of my new-found freedom this weekend (amazing how having edits do just hangs over your head at all hours of the day) I spent yesterday cleaning, moving around furniture to make room for the Christmas tree, and pulling decorations down from the attic. Today, JP and I got our tree and I'm sitting here in front of the fire listening to X-mas music, waiting for the tree to dry out (it rained last night) before putting on the lights and decorating.

Growing up, decorating the tree was always a big deal. We'd have a nice dinner, listen to Christmas music, and enjoy the time together as a family. My dad used to give my sisters and I an ornament every year with our names and the date on them with the intention that when we grew up and had our own trees we'd already have a nice collection of ornaments. Which of course means that all the ornaments for our tree have my name on them. We call it the Carrie Tree :)

So later today I'll throw a roast in the oven and we'll open a nice bottle of wine and we'll laugh at all the Carrie ornaments while the cats lounge in front of the fire. To me, that's what Christmas is all about.

In other news, The authors of Fangs, Fur & Fey have been posting their stories of how they rose from the slush pile. Now that my edits are done and I get to play on teh interwebs again, I've added my own story here. I have to say, I'm pretty proud of my story. I feel like more and more people these days want to know the short-cuts, how to get there faster.

I've always believed that the first step is to write the best book you can, the second step is to query, and the third is to start on the next book. Now I'd add a 1.5 step: polish the manuscript to a shine -- I definitely had a lot of agents and editors commenting on how polished my manuscript was and that can only work in your favor.

So for those who think that you need connections or a special hand-shake, I'm here to tell you that you don't.

Finally, because I promised and because it was an amazing trip, here's a picture of the view from our place in Belize: