WHAT A JOURNEY

By Margie Senechal

Last week I typed the end on Suitcases. There's still lots of work to be done on it--like filling in scenes with details, adding a scene or two, and editing. And then probably a couple of rewrites after some people read it. But, having that first draft complete is instrumental in moving onto the next phase of finishing a novel well enough to put it out on submission. 

Once I'd figured out my ending, the pieces began to fall into place. I've used the analogy of jigsaw puzzle before, so I thought of another one. A clipper ship journey.

When ships left docks back in the day, they left with hope on the sunrise. Happy spirits flowed between the crew and passengers. Then the seas got a bit rough, food started to run out, people got sick, some died, and hope was but a memory. Until, the kid up in the crow's nest called out, "Land a'hoy!" and even though it was far off--perhaps days, perhaps weeks--the fire at the end of the tunnel had been lit and raised everyone's spirits. When they thought they couldn't go on for another hour, let alone a day, they now had hope. And Hope held them over to the end.

Yeah, that's how I felt when I found my ending. 

Since then, I've started on the edits and I think this weekend, I'm going to head to B&N or the library for a few hours and just go through it like demon. I'm trying to get it ready for beta readers in the next couple of weeks. There, I put it out there into the universe. Now, I have to do it.

As for writing, I've gone back to Bix, the 9th edition, much to JV's glee. And since I always enjoy writing my boy, I'm having fun reconstructing his life. I might jump into the France story as well as I've been thinking about it as well. I might be a writer with a touch of scattered muse brain.

But, right now, I've got to get ready to walk into my cubby office, and start work. Have a great weekend and read a good book. Until I can offer up mine, here's a recommendation. 

One of my favorite authors finally returned with a new book. Sarah Addison Allen's Other Birds is just wonderful. Her first book, Garden Spells, introduced me to magical realism, which I didn't even know I needed in my life. And now, I've finished my own magical realism book, Suitcases.

Okay, now you can have a great weekend :)