Break out the bubbly! Story 2 is now a full tale in first draft form.
It's still got a long way to go, of course. At 33,700 words, it's only a novella. But that's OK.
The bones are there. It's very spare at the moment, with almost no description, just scenes with action and dialogue. And a bunch of half-finished threads sticking out in a few ugly places. Sub-plot issues. Loose ends. You know the drill. :-)
But I'm kinda happy with it. And now I can say to agents that I've got a complete first novel and am polishing a second.
A nice way to start the new year if I do say so myself.