Finishing R.J.'s Story

Finally…the time had come for me to return to Heaven's Wait and R.J.'s Story. Everyone else's needs seemed to be satisfied for the moment, and (except for my day job at our coffee company) I was ready to set aside time to complete R.J.'s Story once and for all. As far as I was concerned, the suggestion that I file the story away as background research was not an option. R.J. and his beloved community of creatures would have started an uprising in Heaven's Wait, insisting they deserved much more than to be relegated to research. They had stories to tell, songs to sing, and personalities that deserved exposure. Despite the fact that R.J.'s Story was the historical view of Heaven's Wait and that it laid the groundwork for future stories, it had its own charm and importance in the series.

I was also ready to solve the dilemma of identifying the audience for my work. The adults and young people outside the publishing world who had critiqued the drafts of my story over the years had never been concerned with the appropriate age group or genre. In fact, when I hinted to adults that I was focusing on a tween/young adult audience, they argued that the subject matter was just as easily suitable for adults, even though most of the characters were cartoon-like and the language was simplistic. I finally realized that the key to the audience had been sitting in front of me the whole time, embedded in a message I had written in the first few pages of the manuscript…To Playful Spirits Everywhere. It wasn't up to me to decide who those playful spirits were!

So, in the final rounds of reading, editing, re-writing, and improving R.J.'s Story, my job became clear. I simply needed to tell the story as best I could. I tried to make each scene believable, each sentence relevant, and each character integral to the story. I've learned so much about the writing process over the years. Time will tell if I have learned enough.

Note: R.J.'s Story is available for purchase in ebook formats at Smashwords.com. Visit the book's page on Smashwords to see a detailed description of the story. You may also read a 20% free sample of the story on your computer by clicking on the "Online Reading" link at the bottom of the page. Come see what Heaven's Wait is all about! Link: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/104130  Reviews and "Likes" are welcome.