I sent my critique partner one of my short stories, “During the Ball,” about what happened during Cinderella’s ball (no one falls into “happily ever after” during one dance). Anyway, she said that one of her favorite things about it was how it seemed to have just flowed out of me. She’s right. I sat down to write it, and the words spilled out so fast I couldn’t type fast enough to get them all down.

I started thinking about my new book, Suzanne’s Secrets, and how I was really laboring to get it out. When I considered her comments, I knew what I had to do. Throw out 26,000 words, and start over.

And so I did. A little over 5,000 words in, and it’s the best thing I could possibly have done. Only 75,000 more words to go…

“During the Ball” is available in the “Freebies” section of my web page.