The Writing Process

This second book had a late start because I didn't know what was going to happen. How can that be, a writer not knowing the plot details? I had a start: three years after Forever Yours, and that was about it. For me the characters write the book. They whisper in my heart.  I take dictation.

Yesterday, while writing, what else would I be doing, the mom gets a late night phone call, and of course it's bad news. The teen in Washington is hospitalized because she tried to kill herself. I haven't written this part, but I know it.

I was so shocked by the turn of events, I saved the document and stopped writing. Is this true, I asked. Asking whom? The characters... Is this the true turn of events?

There have been hours thinking about this. And it is true. Somehow I'm going to have to write it.

The book is titled: With A Little Help. It has a happy ending. But to get there there is hardship, just as there is in real life.