Begin with the End

In LOM, I knew exactly how the story started. The three women, the "kidnapping talent" conversation, the scene at the office. What I didn't know, for my first time writing a book, was how and where it ended.

With my time travel novels, I always knew Chloe had a YEAR, exactly and what needed to be accomplished in that time. In my Dallas O'Connor mysteries, I knew the killer would be caught and Dallas would live, though it would be close. Those genres gave me the constructs on which to hang the storyline and a goal post to aim for.

Not so with Elize. I spend seven years searching for her fitting "ending." (Don't worry, what's published is absolutely perfect, IMHO!) This searching was due to a combination of too much focus and wrong timing. Too much focus meaning I had what I wanted to happen. I didn't ask the story how it ended. (At some point, if you're going the wrong way, your brain will just STOP you.) It was wrong timing, because I needed to learn a lot more, experience, listen, loosen up and trust the story was there. I'm a slow learner.