What is it like finishing a book?

Exciting. Frustrating. A relief. A terror.
Maybe a bit gassy.
Maybe all of the above.

I'm very excited about the release of my next book-- "Ten Thousand New Year's Eves"--(no relation to the movie that is also coming out about New Year's Eve---though (expletive) I have been working on this novel  for the past three years)

But what's it like to finish a book? Some writers have routines. They do something. They treat themselves.
Some get emotional and cry.
What do you do?
Well...
...for me I have kind of a state of shock. I feel like I've just gotten off a really bad carnival ride--one of those that thrashes you around. It's like a wave of relief followed by...now what?  In many ways, after the final edit, the work continues. You have to put it out in the world. You wonder if anyone will like it. You wonder if it will play well with others, eat its vegetables, and wear its boots in the rain.
You treat it like a child.
And there's the contradiction. It's not a child. It's a thing, but it's a living breathing thing.
For me, I get the shakes. Kind of like the adrenaline dump that you get after being in a minor fender bender. I have a moment of surreal...what just happened?

It's like the dog who chased the car for three years finally caught it.
What did I catch?
You can read the first chapter for free at www.carrawaybaypress.com. 
The book is 99 cents through...well, New Year's Eve as a part of the Indie Book Collective Promo.

SHOULD I have a routine when I finish a book? Any suggestions? What do you do? Should it be a major deal, like the writer in "Misery" who ceremoniously has a cigarette and a bottle of expensive wine? Should it be something crazy like putting on a pink wig and doing karaoke night?
I don't know.
Maybe the ceremony for me is that there is no ceremony. Maybe because I feel through promotions that I will still be dealing with these characters.
But I'm open for suggestions....