Denouement

Denouement. What a fancy word for the resolution of a story! Finding the right conclusion for a plot line always plagues me. Constantly. Did I do it successfully? Or did I hang my laundry out on someone else’s line to dry? Did I leave too much for the reader, forcing them to imagine their own endings? Are they mad at me?

I hope not. I do try to find a way to complete a storyline even while leaving things open. Readers are smart and creative and they read between the lines. I like that they feel compelled to find out what might be and that they like thinking about the characters well after they have closed up the book.

I thought I had done enough for my characters when I wrapped up one of the series. But just when I thought I was totally finished with them, those darn characters started bothering me again. They have wormed their way into my brain and I just have to acquiesce.

I need sleep, and since they are keeping me awake, I have promised them that I would find closure for their storylines. For my newest book, Back in the Before, I have zipped into today, setting the time to 2022 with flashbacks to the past. I am typing as fast as I can at the moment, as this story is just oozing out onto my laptop!

However quickly this story is coming into light, it is hard to write fiction without at least some kind of connectivity to current events. This is a terribly difficult time right now. Within my chapters, I find myself compelled to touch on the angst we are all feeling. One would be remiss not to do so. The past two years have opened our eyes to a time we will never forget. Finally, it seems that the fears of the pandemic have lessened. Only now they have been replaced by the fears of the dreadful war in the Ukraine.

I hope with all my heart that the leaders of the world create a proper denouement. And soon.