Long Walks on the Beach

Methinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow. 

Henry David Thoreau

 

It has been since we left San Juan on a cruise ship in 2020 and returned to a very different world that we'd had a beach vacation. I suppose that doesn't count the times we've taken the trailer to lakeside campsites and walked the dogs along the shore. But, this isn't exactly about beaches.

Karen 4 - An Intrusion of Trifles - will release in March. I'm happy with... I guess a lukewarm way to say this is I'm happy with how the story has evolved. In point of fact, I'm really excited about this release. Karen is a great character to write. This novel demonstrates many of her strengths, explores her frailties and has some fun along the way. By fun, I mean... Karen has a warrior soul that she flexes from time to time. Why would this book be any different?

Of course, we subscribe to the "Jed Bartlett School" of linear task engagement. Why wouldn't we - we named one of our dogs after him. There is a question that always pops up as the end of one task looms.

What's next?

There we were, on a fabulous beach in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. This is a part of the world near and dear to us, a refuge from winter Denver weather in a part of the world that is both warm and welcoming. Sunshine, 80 degree weather - we grab bottles of water and walk on the beach for a couple of miles.

The conversation turned to (as it often does) what was next, now that Trifles had entered the final stages before release. My super supportive wife, used to these kinds of conversations, had a ready suggestion.

Amy 3.

For anyone who has read A Guardian's Promise, it comes as no surprise that I started Amy 3 - working title Body Man - in the immediate aftermath of finishing the rough draft of Amy 2 - at the time called But Always Me. When I say immediate aftermath...

I was deeply disturbed with the ending of Amy 2. I'd also committed a cardinal sin, in that I'd finished the rough first draft at night, then tried to sleep. It didn't work. I got back up at around midnight, and wrote the first chapter of Amy 3. Reassured that she was okay, I went back to bed. 

Strange behavior? Probably. It's what it is. Then...

Pat had a particularly difficult parting with one of her employers. Mostly, it was associated with a gathering of egos - theirs, not hers. Amy 3 became a way to write angry about the way she'd been treated, how the minor players with visions of grandeur had conspired to "go in a different direction." It just flowed out, all of the spite, all of the dyspepsia, the overarching agida ("The Otch") as my friend would call it, that I got over the way she was treated. When she landed on her feet, as she always does, I set Amy aside and wrote other books, with other characters.

"What about Amy?" Pat asked as we walked. "What kind of things could she get into if...?"

One of the glories of 2024 is that my laptop was back at the room. I didn't write a lot, but I booted up Amy 3 and decided that, yes, we would finish Amy 3. Title?

For now...Amy 3.