Jamie gave me feedback on my revised first chapters and proposal over the weekend so it’s time to get cracking again. My primary task is to beef up my subplot–Ella’s best friend lost a baby to miscarriage late in pregnancy and is struggling with the fear of trying to have another child. It’s in there, but I need to tie it more clearly to the theme of having faith.
I’m taking a week off work around Christmas so I’ll have time to really get in there and do some careful revising. My goal is to have the book ready to begin submitting again in January. The agent I have my eye on is closed to submissions in December anyway, so this works out well.
So, here’s a teaser. The opening paragraph from “The Memory of Drowning.”
Ella and the dog days of summer had arrived at her parents’ West Virginia farm on a Monday afternoon. Ella soon tired of hearing that she must have brought the heat with her, but it was a small price to pay—she’d needed to escape. She had been so sure Mark was the one. He wasn’t perfect, but he had such potential. Then it came time to set the wedding date and Ella froze. She just couldn’t do it. Mark and his family had been devastated, but Ella had a sneaking suspicion her own family was relieved. Now she needed the kind of peace that she could only find in the rhythm of farm life—the garden, the chickens, her family’s easy familiarity. She craved the kind of peace that washed over her in the wake of her Grandma Bess’ unconditional love.