I began Next of Kin, my first crime fiction novel, as a work in process, but it has stretched into a work in progress. Both WIPs, but not the same meaning. After years of critiques by my novel group and more than a dozen manuscript revisions, my editor is hard at work trying to improve the story. My cover designer is challenged with trying to please me (a word enthusiast with little sense of visual concepts) while she creates an eye-catcher.
Publishing a book is like the old soaps (maybe some new ones). When a hurdle is finished and the end seems near, the broadcast ends with “Stay tuned for the next episode.”
My novel critique groups gathered for our annual January brainstorming workshop. With almost an hour each, the six of us—one member joined us by Skype—presented our individual 2020 writing agendas. Cell phones on silent except for lunch and short breaks kept us focused. Well, maybe one brief distraction when aromas wafted from the kitchen near lunchtime. All six members are authors, earning that designation by publications in short-story contests and anthologies. Five, including me, have published at least one book. My first two were nonfiction.
Even with that experience, getting beyond THE END in my first fiction novel has been like a 
Violet's Vibes 