Good Tidings

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I read, signed, and sent my contract for Lily White in Detroit to my publisher yesterday. Yay! Now I must knuckle down and do some work on the ending as I promised my editor I would. Maybe I didn’t mention that before…she loved my story, yes, but the ending fell a little flat for her.

But why? I already knew. It was an epilogue and a clumsy one. My critic partner Tom had already suggested I cut it, but I didn’t, because I had an idea for my character and her arc and I didn’t want to give it up. I still don’t. I have ideas of how to layer those last actions Lily takes to personal freedom into the story a little earlier.

Think I’ll put it in the chapter I was afraid to write, so didn’t. I should have been braver but sometimes a writer just needs her editor to give her a little nudge. It’s a pretty fair bet that if you are afraid to write something, you must do so. Immediately.

Meanwhile, I have a few weeks to make the shift from my St. Pete set next book to editing Lily White, because it’s my publisher’s annual holiday shutdown.

In other news I am still reading Christmas novels. Just finished Comfort and Joy by Kristin Hannah. I’d read a few of her books before, The Nightingale, Firefly Lane. So when I got a BookBub deal for her older Christmas novel, I took it. And loved it. It might be my favorite Christmas novel this year.

This has been a different kind of holiday, but I’ve really enjoyed it so far, and I hope you have too. I went to Florida, helped Al paint and furnish a guest room, saw my son Mike and his family for five luscious days. They all four fit in the new guest room just fine! Came back to Michigan and maybe eight or so inches of snow, but there will be much more up north when Al and I go see our other son and his family later this week. They live in the snow belt and routinely get way more snow than we do here.

Counting blessings here, my grandchildren are the best. I don’t see them as often as I’d like, so every minute we have together counts. It was so fun to play with Owen and hold little baby Julia in my arms as she napped. I’ve done that with each of them as babies, feed them, they fall asleep in my arms, and instead of putting them down for a nap, I just hold them and drink them in. Babies to hold, books to write, books to read…Christmas doesn’t get any better than this.

 

 

 

 

12 Comments

    1. Jaye, there are so many more things I could have said … the not so nice parts. I don’t know about you, but the “not so nice” always involves the same people and the same kind of shit. Ooops. Poop. Same kind of poop. :)) I guess I’m used to it now. I will say it took an entire bag of marshmallows to get over one of those “same olds” and I should have seen it coming. (Not that I am advising you to eat a bag of marshmallows:) {{Hugs}}

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  6. Jaye, you are the only person ever who has admitted that to me!! I forgave myself pretty quickly and that’s going to be what I want to keep doing next year. Do you think part of it is accepting who we are? I’ve been trying to lose weight for 30 years. It might be time to say “this is who I am” … and I’m thinking of letting the silver hair come in, too. Same reason. I want to work on accepting and loving myself at this age, with this much done. We’ve both done so much more than we thought possible. (I’m thinking there was a time in your life where writing a book was just a dream). xo

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