Beginnings and endings

   I always feel a little sad when I finish writing a book. You spend so much time with these people that you know them intimately, that you feel they are a part of your life. But when I finish writing a couple's story, I know that I'll miss them being there on my computer screen every day.
   This is why I like writing my Carolina Carlyle series. I not only get to create a new story for every book but I get to check in on the people I've already met. My sister told me the other day while she was proofreading my second book in the series that she feels like these characters are her friends; that she should be able to call them up and go hang out somewhere. And that's what I want: believable characters that you can't help but fall in love with, cheer for, with whom you can laugh and cry.
   As hard as beginnings are to write, endings are that much harder. Not because you don't know where the story is going to end up, although sometimes that is the case, but because of the amount of time and energy you've invested in these characters. A little piece of your heart stays with them but they are eternal. On paper, these people last forever. So you can visit anytime you want, just stop in and take quick peek. You can also watch them grow through the stories that follow.
   After I finished writing my very first book, Dead in Her Tracks (the first chapter is available on this blog in a previous post), I cried. I cried because I had accomplished my goal of writing a book; I cried because my characters got their happy ending; I cried because I didn't know what to do next.
   With the Carolina Carlyle series, I have five more next times in which we can all check in with those crazy Carlyle kids. After finishing book two, Mallory and Denny's story, I decided the title I'd been using for the last year wasn't going to work. After you read their story, you'll understand why I had to change the title from Touch 'em All to Fielder's Choice.
   I'm working on a few more pieces to Fielder's Choice and waiting for my oh-so-talented brother to help me create the cover and then I will put the book on sale. I would like to once again thank everyone who has helped make my dreams of being an author come true by purchasing a copy of Saving Tate. I hope that you fall in love with the Carlyles like I have and that you can't wait to read about Mallory and Denny.


My Little Bookshelf: I have just finished reading the High Heels Mystery series by Gemma Halliday. These are quirky, funny, sweet books that I literally couldn't put down. No joke...read all six books in seven days. Right now I'm reading Maid for Love by Marie Force. All of these books are available as ebooks from the Barnes and Noble website.

  So here I sit, under my warm blanket waiting for the snow to start falling in my little corner of the world. Nothing I like more than to look out the window and feel like I live in a snow globe. Good night and sweet dreams.