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Well, there it went. I blinked and the week was suddenly over already. I don’t remember what happened.
Somewhere around Wednesday morning, when I hit my first 40 hours for the week, I caught an idea. Those who know me well are probably either scared or excited but the jury’s still out on which side they should choose. And the worst part is, I can’t talk about this idea because I can’t focus on it right now. I could switch projects but then Detective Noelle would be in the backseat and I feel I owe her more than that. She’s seen some things.
Thinking more about Det. Noelle lately has me convinced that all the plans I have for her future might serve better as longer short stories. I’ve been a novelist since I was twelve; everything I’ve ever written has been expansive, even if the world wasn’t explored fully.
Short stories and I never got along but I wrote three short stories in four weeks recently. Two of them were destined for much bigger things, though maybe not full-length novels. I had word count limitations and while I did confine myself to those boundaries, I knew when I clicked “Submit” they were unfinished. I wrote right up to the deadline and then just… stopped typing. I want to spend more time with them, I want to see them through. The question is, can I?
I’ll be honest, I did briefly forget about Noelle. She’s there in my head, biding her time, but I feel like she’s lost. She’s working on loan, living out of a motel for her own safety because of a botched undercover job and some pretty serious death threats. I’m not sure what’s happening right now but neither does she. It’s hard for her to focus on this body outside her jurisdiction that she cannot investigate but will anyway because she needs the distraction. Because she’s struggling, so am I. She’s giving me little nuggets of details and dialogue periodically and I’m starting to wonder if I have enough post-it notes.
I should be fine, right? Everything’s fine. The sketchy fed won’t blab about her new location, right?
Right?
Fiction projects: 3
Fiction words this week: 4750
About the author: Theresa Green is the co-founder of The Writer's Workout and a crime fiction writer.