Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it.- Truman Capote

I probably would have found a different way of saying it (Capote and I have different writing styles!) but I had to laugh when I read this quote.  Despite the “ouch” factor, his words are true.  It is so difficult to write the ending of novel.  You are saying good-bye to your friends, your enemies, and your family.  You want to do them justice and give them a deserving send-off, all while figuring out a way to live without them.  I will admit that I cried while I wrote the end of “The Happiest Day.”  All right, I sobbed.  I wondered how Rachel could go on.  Fine, I wondered how I could go on.  I usually go through a bit of a withdrawal after finishing a book.  Remember when you were a teenager and after a boy broke up with you, you drove by his house a few times?  That’s what I do with my finished novels.  I go back and read bits and parts.  I’m just visiting, I tell myself.  However, usually within a few days, there is a knock at the door of my brain and a whole new cast of characters moves in.