Yes I did that in the title on purpose. I know it's corny instead of clever, but I don't care.

Yes I know. I said the Fang Marked office would be closed yesterday and today. I still am closed, but it's for a different reason altogether. I thought maybe it was a practical joke on Sunday, but it wasn't.

Legacy isn't finished anymore. The last forty pages crashed and burned with my other computer.

Just when I think I'm not going to be reminded of that horrific mistake, it just keeps coming back to bite me in the butt. All this time I've spent rewriting Awakening, and now the book preceding it isn't done. Fabulous.

When my old computer died, that was bad. This is worse in my mind because I haven't worked on Legacy since April. That was five months ago. I can't for the life of me remember how it ended before. I can't remember anything about it except the relief I felt when it was finished. Now I almost have to start over again on a book due out in seven months because I'm going to have to edit what I have first before I can finish it. Argh.

So, to make a long story short, back your stuff up, always! And back it up in multiple locations. Or you could find yourself in my situation. Trust me, it's not a fun place to be right now either.

I loved a recent post on Coffee Stained Writer (http://coffee-stainedwriter.blogspot.com/) about when a work is finished. Since my internet connection is not allowing me to put what I really think as a comment on her blog, I'm throwing it on here.

How do you really know when a work is finished? It's a long process.

Since I've only published the one novel, I'll talk about my experience with that one. Prophecy was hard to let go of. It was my first novel ever and I felt there was so much more to add. I even wrote 10 pages of useless scene at the end because I couldn't let it go. But finally, I'd told the story and it felt done. Then the edits began.

Before I did my first edit, I finished Forbidden and participated in Nano for the first time. I didn't go back to Prophecy until late December/early January. I couldn't believe the disaster that was my first novel. I pulled about 30 pages out, wrote another 30-40 to replace what was cut, moved scenes around, added new characters, and rewrote the ending. Twice. It was finally done with the first round of edits when my husband said to me "is there anything of the original novel left?". That's when I knew it was time to stop and take a step back.

The last round of edits before publication were done in late April/early May. That was a lot quicker because I just had to make sure it was flowing and the new stuff went with the old stuff. But even when I was sure it was the novel it is today, I didn't want to let it go. The only way I stopped picking at it was the deadline I was under. But I'm glad I didn't pick it apart again because so far, the feedback has been fantastic.

So how do you know when it's really done? I can't describe it academically, but I can tell you that Prophecy was done because it felt done. It was ready. It's like cooking or what I imagine pregnancy would be. When it's done, it's done. The turkey comes out of the oven, the baby is born. There's no more you can do to it.

Forbidden has been editted three times because of computer malfunction. It's getting one more combing out before it's completely ready to go. It just hasn't required as much in the way of revision. Now the prequel, Legacy, I'm scared I'm going to have to rewrite that book from the beginning all over again.

But when it's done, it's done.