In my last post I wrote about the draft I sent to Ms.D. To say it was a stressful event would be an understatement.

Yesterday my phone rang. I picked up. It was her. Oh crap. I thought. It's so bad that she actually had to pick up the phone.

This is where I need to point out that Ms.D is an email person. I am an email person. We communicate almost entirely online, which is fine, no, it's great. It works well because we're both so busy. So to have her calling me was very out-of-the-ordinary.

As it turns out she emailed me the day I sent the draft and then again the following week when I followed up to see if she'd read it. For some reason I didn't receive either of those emails. I combed my spam folders and came up dry. Email fail gives me the willies. I mean really, what else have I missed? It makes me so crazy I can't even think about it.

But, guess what, she liked the draft. She really liked it.

We chatted, I hung up, and then let out a big whoop. That icy anxiety inside of me melted faster than I could hang up the phone.

What a relief. I feel more more confident than ever. And now that I know I'm on the right track I feel like I am out of the limbo of unknowing and can truly forge ahead.

Last week I emailed some draft text to Ms.D for her approval. As I mentioned in my previous post, I wanted to make sure that I was taking the right approach with things like language, tone and style.

I emailed it to her on Friday. My daughter had been home with a fever (which later turned into a rash which practically covered her entire body) and I was making last minute edits while the poor kid convalesced on the couch.

At one point – after I had made about 100 tiny changes and edits – I had had enough. I could have fussed with it for days, but it was time to let it go.

Normally I’m a lot more confident about my writing. I know what people want, and I know what I’m capable of, but this was different. I was relatively certain that this was the kind of writing Ms.D is after, but what if I got it wrong?

“What if she hates it?” I moaned to my husband.

His answer was something about taking another stab at it. No biggie, right? Although this kind of project is new to me I don’t believe that I’m over my head. I can handle revisions, sure, but I confess, if it’s totally wrong it’ll be a blow to my confidence.

Ms.D was worried about how she’d be portrayed. She is a positive person and wants to be seen as such. She’s very likeable and has a unique outlook on life. I think I got that. Even though I’m writing this from her perspective I think I portrayed her accurately, although there’s a very real possibility that she won’t agree.

I am happy with what I sent to her. I wouldn’t have sent it otherwise.

It’s early to say this – because I only sent an intro and a short first chapter, but by main worry is that I don’t have enough information. We’ve talked for hours, but is that enough to go on? I also worry that I’m not padding it enough. I’m not talking about fluffy space-wasting words, but that meaty in-between descriptive stuff that sets a scene and gets those big ideas across in the best way possible.

Here’s the thing: I sent the text to her last week and I haven’t heard back. And so, of course, I’m imagining the worst. The worst being (a) she hates it (b) she’s in the process of emailing it to her friends and they are all discussing it (b) she has been stunned into silence and doesn’t know how to proceed and is ready to throw in the towel.

But I’m not ready to throw in the towel. Not yet.

I promised Ms.D that I'd be sending her a draft of the writing thus far. I have to confess that I am a little nervous about this. This week has been total chaos, and included a waterfall of unexpected work and a feverish child among the usual mayhem of everyday life in a young family.

As I write this, our puppy is chewing on one of the houseplants. *sigh*

I am turning away other work because this has to be a priority, otherwise it will never get done.

Anyway, yes, the draft. Today I will be sending Ms.D the first draft of the first chapter of this book. I am pretty sure she will like it, but... what if she doesn't?

I'm starting it off with a doozy of a story about something that happened to her on one of her long-distance runs. It's written from her perspective. I also want to make sure she agrees with the tone I've taken and that I've interpreted her words the right way. Cross your fingers.

I really enjoyed the discussion in the last post. Thank you to everyone who added their two cents!

I am working on an intro to this little book right now, which revolves around the running aspect of Ms.D's life. I've started it this way because the way she describes her experiences (and they are pretty wild) are extremely fascinating.

In terms of a direction, we're looking at something that is kind of a memoir, but also meant to inspire women in business without sounding like a self-help book. As a reader, what kind of things would you like to learn about Ms.D? How she does it? What drives her? Her recipe for success?

If I am understanding her correctly, Ms. D believes that anyone is capable of anything (that is, as long as they are physically able). Anyone can run a marathon, learn how to cook, lose weight etc ... they just have to want it badly enough.

I'm having trouble coming to terms with this line of thinking. I want to believe it, I'm just not sure it's true. Is this idea simplifying things too much? Can anyone run a marathon?