I Love Surprises

Many of you know that as I’ve worked on Book #4, things took a turn I wasn’t expecting. My characters, bless their sneaky hearts, create unexpected twists and turns all the time. In essence, they write the story.

And no, I’m not crazy. I’m a typical author. Well, OK…maybe that means…never mind!

Back to topic.

For those of you who’ve read the first three books in the series, you know Rowan is the main guy. He’s the protagonist with his own agenda and a big-time attitude. The latest unexpected twist of the story involves Rowan’s interaction with another character, forcing that character to respond according to his own nature.

End result: Rowan finds himself in a situation he never expected, one he’s helpless to extricate himself from.

This turn of events left me flummoxed. I frowned at the screen, muttering “what the…how am I supposed to fix this?” To be honest, my first thought was to rewrite the scene and change either Rowan’s initial action that caused the huge problem, or the response his actions engendered.

Would that be an honest depiction of my characters? No. I don’t think so.

Instead I wrote a scene involving the characters most likely to help Rowan out of a tough spot. Those characters seemed to balk at the solution I was sure they’d choose, which surprised me even more.

At a complete loss (I hate even the feeling of being unproductive), I started re-reading the manuscript and creating an outline of the story so far. When I finished reading all 61,158 words, I stared wide-eyed at the screen as it dawned on me that pretty much everything I’d written led to that ONE SCENE.

To clarify a bit!

When I start a book, I know how it’s going to end, but have no earthly idea how everything will play out to achieve that ending. I just write and write and see where the story goes. The characters do their jobs and lead me along. This book was no different.

Except this time…

For the first time ever, the ending and how to get there laid itself out in my mind. It felt like I was standing on a mountain top, looking down at a panoramic view of the rest of the story, following and turning on what has become THE pivotal scene of the book.

Or maybe it’s the pivotal scene of the whole series. Could be. You’ll just have to read the stories to find out.