A Library, a Story, and Hometown Stillness

In 2011, I decided to revise my favorite piece of writing: a 100-page novella that I’d written, and considered finished, in 2002. The characters had been with me for years, and were close to my heart; their story was haunting, and sad, but complete. When an enthusiastic literary agent suggested she’d take me on as a client if I turned the novella into a full-length novel, I felt I had no choice but to agree to the challenge. And so I pulled up the Word file--which I hadn’t touched in any