The Backstory Cafe is usually bustling with fictional characters, but today I’m the only person in the whole joint. I plop down on my favorite sofa in the back and look around. Quiet. Creepy quiet. The entire cast of my novel-in-progress has taken the day off.
I even had to make my own coffee.
The team deserves this break after the long haul of writing draft #4. The novel expanded again this time around, and every single sentence was scrutinized. The story got deeper, the motivations got clearer, and the unanswered questions from previous drafts finally found satisfying conclusions. Whew!
Draft #4 has already been handed off to the last two readers it will see before I query agents. I’m working on the edits from one of those readers today. Luckily, it’s a small pile of fixes. Mostly typos.
I look around me and my eyes settle on the cafe door. I know the team will be back tomorrow, and I need them to be fresh and ready to work. I’ll be pitching this project soon, but that’s only the beginning around here. I have another Cave Creek story inside me. Two actually, and I’m itching to get started.
