The Next Glimmer


My brilliant and generous critique partners both returned my new manuscript to me yesterday, and both claimed to like the story immensely. (Yea!) Both, too, had wonderful comments, corrections, and suggestions that I'm now going through one by one and evaluating. It's painstaking work, but I enjoy it, and each bit of sharpening makes me more confident that the story will put its best foot forward when I turn it in at the end of this month.

But I have to admit, I'm a little bit distracted. A new story has stepped forward from among the many wallflowers lurking around the edge of my consciousness. I still have little sense of it, only a collection of strong images, a setting, and an impression of the two main characters. In place of a plot, I have an idea of the main challenge facing each character and the conflict between them. But everything else is a blank slate, waiting to be filled.

Right now, this glimmer in my peripheral vision is a bit of a nuisance since for the next two weeks, my focus must remain on the current work in progress. But it's good to know that another story's out there waiting. The tingling anticipation of it tells me the Idea Factory is still in business, and I have the best job in the world.

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