A Box of Possiblities

A box arrived by special delivery yesterday.  The driver rang our doorbell, left the package and sprinted back to his truck.  By the time I opened the door, he was waving as the vehicle pulled away.

I lugged the box through the doorway and into the front room where it currently waits.  I suppose you’re wondering what’s inside.  Well if only for a moment, imagine the possibilities.  Of course it’s too small to be a new car, a boat or a bicycle.  The box is too large to be a remote, wristwatch or pencil.  The weight is on the medium side, not exactly heavy and not exactly light.

I wonder if the cardboard itself is magic, that if I were to step within I’d find a porthole that leads to an exotic land.  It might be a bridge to another dimension but then again, maybe it's just a box.

The gift of the unknown reminds me of a book in a sense.  Unless I open the cover and read, the contents shall remain a mystery. 

With that said, there has only been mention surrounding “A Love for the Taking.”  Right now I’ve only presented the world an empty box.  The wrapping is a subtle floral dating back to 1849.  I hear a commotion from within…no, that’s not a clock ticking…clip-clop, clip-clop…the sound of horses.  Horses, how on earth are there horses tucked inside a box?

The truth is, there is much to do.  My editor (bless her heart) has returned the manuscript to me.  Red marks, red punctuation, red, red, red…the color of a writer’s stop sign…the color of my grammatical embarrassment.  There is no such thing as penning in a free fall or so I’m told.  If I want a positive result, I must work in a positive direction.

I was informed they didn’t have GPS back in 1849, who knew?  (Just kidding…that was a running joke because of some of the wording.)  I need to tweak the language so as to keep the integrity geared towards the past.  I do so enjoy a good challenge.

All in all, my editor gave the storyline an enthusiastic “thumbs up.”  In fact, she enjoyed the book even more than “Falling Whispers,” but then again, this was more of an adventure-romance and she is more of an adventure-romance kind of gal. 

Do you think if I open the magic box a sign would pop up to indicate a release date for the novel?  Such a prediction would be great!  I’m curious though how other writers manage to be so quick regarding self publication.  There certainly is a lot involved.

When my kids were younger and we would shop for birthday gifts for their friends I would explain, always offer something you would appreciate if you were on the receiving end.  I suppose I look at writing in the same way…as a gift that I would be happy to read.

It’s my hope that when “A Love for the Taking” is offered, the effort that went into presenting my absolute best is appreciated.  Until then, I will continue to move forward.  Each day is a simple edit closer to pressing the submit button on Amazon. 

Now, has anyone seen my scissors?  I’d sure like to know what’s inside the mystery box.  No snakes please, I can handle just about anything but snakes! 

Until next week,

~Trixie Archer