Kristin Wolden Nitz

I’ve known for some time that Calyn’s story came to an end rather abruptly.  More than one critique group has told me so.  But I was defeated every time that I tried to come up with one more chapter.  Every possible scene seemed to be wrapped in cotton candy while the cutesiest unicorns and bunny rabbits danced around it.  Really.  But I did take my friends’ complaints quite seriously, especially since there were some readers who felt that SUSPECT ended too quickly.  I noticed that there were still a few plot issues that could be resolved.  I expanded the last chapter by about two pages and then sent things off to my agent.

But no.  She confirmed that the ending was still too abrupt. So I didn’t have a choice.  I had to write it.  I tried a lot of angles of attack and finally found a way in.  Most of the failed attempts did provide a line or two that made it into the end as I encouraged my characters to talk to each other. So it’s another case of “Bone-headed stubbornness pays.” Jane Yolen’s classic advice for how to pursue a career also works for writing the chapters and scenes that don’t want to be written.  The chapter still needs tweaks, but it’s a matter of smoothing and polishing.