Short? Sure it is. Abrupt? I don’t think so. Lampshade hung? I thought I did, both in the main story and this coda.
Consider: the “short” story of ‘The Second Bridge’ came in at 11.4k words. This “little” bonus ending is 4900 words. Sometimes, no matter how interesting these people are, I need to walk away for other projects.
To wit: my copyeditor has returned the 2nd edition of ‘Echoes of Family Lost.’ This weekend shall be spent implementing those changes. I tell you: no matter how you might prize your storytelling, when an editor hands back a manuscript – that you thought was fine – essentially bleeding red ink… it’s an incredibly humbling experience.
Thanks, everyone, for reading about Henge and her families. I hope you love them all as much as I do. After this weekend’s editing, we’ll be off again!