mental mumblings, the morning-after-deadline....

And so, the authorial second-guessing begins. Flesh & Fire is not a Cosa Nostradamus book. It's not a caper, not a contemporary, not even slightly romantic, and although there are suspense/mystery elements to the plot, not anything like any novel I've written before. It's a more traditional coming-of-age story than I've ever written before, even in my YA, and while complete in itself is also unapologetically the start of a larger story.

Will readers, accustomed to the faster, snarkier feel of the Cosa books, be willing to sink into this world and let the characters move at their more deliberate pace? Or are there going to be readers who will, two chapters in, throw the book against the wall in disgust?

I haven't a clue.

The urge to make things more tricksy, more caper-ish, occasionally surfaced. But the book didn't want that. It wanted to unfold at a certain pace, introduce characters in a certain way, and every time I tried to change that, the story balked. It is what it is, and I'm, as much as I can be at this point, pleased with the way the revisions turned out, and how the long-story is unfolding. That's all and the very best any writer can do: write true, and with heart. Now I just have to sit back and hope it pleases others, too.

Well, actually, there's no sitting back allowed. My little schedule reminds me that PACK OF LIES is due to m'other editor on May 4th. Three months. Right. More coffee, back to't!

I ask you....

I know it is in the nature of files to disappear, but why, O Universe, that file?

(thankfully, I kept paper notes, too)

Update: The Universe rsponds to steady searching and only occasional whinging: The File is Found! *is ded of teh releef*



And it is, according to Weatherbug, 13 degrees outside. And I have to go out to visit the vamps. Ugh.



On much happier news, Charles Finlay/ccfinlay is giving it away. His new book, that is. Or, just go download The Patriot Witch here. The evil ploy is that, hopefully, you'll like it enough to want a solid-form copy on your shelf, too.

I got mine. :-)