The worst timing for a gut punch

In every book I’ve written, there’s generally a scene that gets to me, hard. Usually the waterworks don’t turn on, but every now and then I might be cutting a few onions in this house when I write certain scenes. When I was writing Journey of the Caged, there were two such moments, and I think it’ll be pretty obvious when you read it which two I’m talking about (no spoilers here).

The first one I got through pretty okay. I had to stop for a while, do some dishes, mop, and get my mind off the...