Another One For the Road

Two books are with publishers, ready for edits. I set up marketing tools while I waited for the next turn. The tank is filled with basic fuel. Now what? I rev my engines and take a detour. Sometimes this road to publication is lonely.

Sigh. I miss Ruby and Galeron from Jewel of Ramstone. I breathed life into those characters and through time, they took on a life of their own. I wrote about the next chapter in their existence for so long, they became a part of mine. Now, they're locked away in a manuscript, just waiting to be freed into a readers mind. Sound crazy? Well, only another writer would understand. That is why this road is lonesome.

I stop at a roadside diner, my fingers ready to tap out the ideas brewing in my mind. A new project is just what I need to ease the nagging loss after typing out the final words of a book. I walk in, smile at the waitress, and find a booth. The place smells familiar, reminiscent of childhood days, fresh pie and greasy burgers. I never said it was a healthy childhood.
With a fresh cup of coffee and the special of the day-- I can't make out exactly what it is-- I begin to write. The booth begins to fill with new characters and a smile tugs at my lips while I type.

I wonder if the characters emerging in this book will be good friends. It's kind of like my childhood, moving every couple of years. I quickly made new friends, but still cherished the old. I suppose that is the best way to convey the relationship I have with the characters I create. Call me nuts. I'm used to it.

Hours later, I thank the waitress for the umpteenth warm up on my coffee. I never found out what the special was because I was too fascinated with my character's idiosyncrasies to eat.

Feeling a bit guilty for taking up the booth for so long, I leave a hefty tip, gulp the last dregs of coffee and close my laptop. Hopping into my convertible, I steer toward the road to publication with a new outlook.

'The End' does not stop me. It keeps me going.