I nearly had a break today. I came thisclose to taking off the most beautiful day in ages, the kind the weather people call a “top ten weather day.” The heat wave broke, the sky was vivid blue with feathery white clouds, the temperatures were mild, and I had no deadlines looming.

Or so I thought.

Turns out, I’d forgotten about one. I only remembered because the client called around noon to ask about the project. And just like that, my day off was shot to hell.

I did the work, of course. It’s what I do. By the time I finished, it was too late to get to the pool for adult swim. Then, a woman on Buy Nothing texted to remind me to pick up a lovely set of frying pans she was giving me. After I finished work and retrieved the frying pans (gorgeous!), I loaded the car for tomorrow’s book event, heated last night’s leftovers—and came out here on the porch to write this post.

Because you see, I’ve basically finished Draft #3 of my new book.

(hold for applause)

I wrote the last scene on Monday, and I printed the draft on Wednesday. Since I’ve spent so much time on the final third of the book, I could probably go back to work on the first part with a clear head, but I haven’t. Because I really do need a break.

What this means, of course, is that the third Claus book won’t be out in time for the holidays. This makes me sad, because at last year’s holiday events, people asked, and I assured them it would be out this year. Except now it won’t be, and some of those people are going to be disappointed. I know, because they’ve already asked. When I told them it wouldn’t happen this year, they were all very nice—all my readers are—but I could see the disappointment.

I hate disappointing readers.

On the other hand, what I’d hate much, much more would be putting out a book that wasn’t ready. Think how awful that would be. My beautiful, trusting readers would pick up the book they’d been waiting for, and instead of reading a good story, they’d be slogging through way too much verbiage and trying to navigate plot holes. Who needs that?

What does this mean to my 100 Day Project 2025? I think it means that as far as the book goes, it’s done early. The alternative is to put it on hiatus until my brain has had a chance to rest so that I’m ready for editing.

Editing is so much easier than drafting, in my opinion. When you’re drafting, you have to figure everything out. When you’re editing, the words are already on the page. You can take them out, rearrange them, and replace them, but the framework is there. And if you let your brain cool off so that you can approach the manuscript like a normal reader, there’s even a chance that you’ll spot the gaps and the redundancies. Granted, beta readers and developmental editors will do the same, and it’s always interesting to read their comments, but as any good beta reader or editor will tell you, in the end the decisions are all yours.

So, I’m calling the 100 Day Project 2025 done. Not because I worked on the book for 100 days, but because I did what I set out to do, i.e., finish the draft. Once I’ve let the manuscript sit for a bit, I’ll have a better idea what the next stage will look like. (Some people say to let it sit for three months. I’m incapable of that. Not to mention, three months from now will be the beginning of the holiday event season, and I definitely won’t have the time or energy to undertake a massive edit as I juggle the day job and the weekend jaunts hither and yon with a car full of tables, books, and display materials.)

Many thanks to everyone who has supported me in this (Less Than) 100 Day Project. Wishing you all a lovely, relaxing break before we all gear up for the next stage!