Tuesday, May 1, 2012

To Be Continued (Hopefully With Paragraphs)

I thought I had ended The Shade Of The Moon last Tuesday (or was it Wednesday- I don't remember, but it was one of those days that started with last), and then I was going to Washington DC (I did, and I have the pictures to prove it), and then I was going to spring clean my apartment.

Instead, I spent much of yesterday sleeping.

Then at 3:49 AM, my smoke detector started beeping, which forced me to bring my ladder in from the outside storage closet. At which point, it stopped beeping. Since I'm still alive, I have a feeling it was a problem with the detector, not any smoke.

It took me an hour or so to fall back asleep, and I'm not sure when I had this thought- either then, or when I woke up, but I think it was then because I'm pretty sure when I woke up I had to recreate it.

What it is is a huge plot twist and approximately another 80 pages, starting, with just the removal of a sentence or two, at the exact moment where I thought the book ended.

So here's my plan. I'm going to visit my mother, and buy groceries, and at least do a little bit of Clean Out The Closet. Then I'm going to call Princess Summerfallwinterspring and test the idea out on her. If she likes it, and almost more to the point, if she can figure out how to resolve the brand new situation I created thanks to the smoke detector, I'll go back to writing, something I swore I would never do again.

I promise to keep you posted and show you the photographs. Ideally with paragraphs!

11 comments:

Heather said...

I look forward to your Washington, D.C., photographs and am THRILLED to think of 80 extra *bonus* pages to the new book!!

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Hi Heather-

I just downloaded the pictures from my Washington DC trip. I think the less said about most of them, the better!

I devoted a few of my remaining braincells to thinking about the possible extension of the book.

I like it a lot, but the ending needs some work.

Perhaps Princess Summerfallwinterspring will solve it for me.

Bridget Higdon said...

Hi Susan-

Are you planning on showing the final copy to your editor?

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Hello tigerlily*-

I think I'll find out first if my editor wants to read it.

If she does, I'll send it to her.

Emily said...

The thought of 80 more pages is quite exciting!

Sarah said...

That's one of my favorite things about writing, honestly -- when the story goes off by itself and takes on a mind of its own and you discover more and more AS you're writing.

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Greetings Emily and Sarah-

Actually, I prefer to control the story and do as little work as possible, but those approximately 80 pages really do seem like the right way to go.

I just want to get my closets tidied beforehand!

Anonymous said...

You DO know about this weekend's "supermoon", don't you?

Anonymous Santa Fe

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Hello Anonymous Santa Fe-

I had heard something about this weekend's Super Moon, but right now I'm fixated on the Super Nightmare of getting Scooter to the vet this afternoon for his annual checkup!

Gamesatservice said...

Hello Mz. Pfeffer. I have a question and i need to know quickly for a school project. I chose you because i really like your books. So, what lifestyle traits do you use in your books? If you can reply back as quickly as possible that would be the best

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Hello Gamesatservice-

I really don't think in terms of lifestyle traits, so I don't think I can help you with your project.

But if you scroll way way down on the right side of this blog, you'll see links to a lot of interviews I've given and maybe you can find the answers there.