Focused and finished...

Okay, the red pen edit is done on NWFO. I'll start inputting everything Saturday. Give myself a breather from it. There are enough structural changes for it to definitely be draft #9, and I may do another read-through once it's input to make sure it's all in order before sending it out for proofing and commentary.

I'm getting to be a bit leery about a moment I have in the story. Brendan is kidnapped and taken to an isolated area where he is brutally beaten, over dating a Cajun girl. Years later, when he learns his mother has cancer, he's too restless to settle down for the night so retraces that night's journey. And winds up finding the place he was attacked.

The part I'm unsure about is, he'd lost the key to his Montesa bike when the beating took place...and he finds it, when he comes back. That worries me as being just too easy. Too simple and obvious. I've set it up like the fates are leading him back there specifically for that purpose...but it's still a bit much. I may cut him finding that...or rework it. I dunno.

It's just, that little Montesa Impala is like another character in the story. It takes Brendan all over the city. Gives him a quiet sort of cool, overall, and sticks by him. It even leads him to a place where he can find a car that needs lots of work and brings him back to an even keel after all hell breaks loose in his head. So it sort of makes sense. I guess.

Overall, the book is coming together. And it's quietly setting up things that will happen in book 3, Home Not Home. Ah, something to look forward to.