I’m in the middle of the hard edit of Captive Dreams before I turn it in on Tuesday. That means I’m looking for places to tighten my writing: did I use 6 words where 2 would work?

I’m adding layers. Did I realize in chapter 14 that Anna needed this conflict in her life, but not go back and sprinkle it in earlier?

I’m reviewing thoughts from my writer friends who have read chunks. They caught several important gaps or lacks of conflict as well as helping me realize just how foreign the idea of POWs on US soil during World War Two is. Those issues can usually be addressed with an added line of dialogue here, a sprinkling of emotion there. But I often grow blind to those issues as I’m writing.

A clear case of writer near-sightedness. It’s so easy to forget that only one year ago, I didn’t know there were POW camps in Nebraska. Now I could talk for an hour about it and never repeat myself.

Last night I mixed things up a bit. Eric was on the treadmill, so I headed to the garage with my laptop. Leaned against the wall, and let the kitten run all over me for about 30 minutes as I worked.

Midnight was determined to help me or play. He didn’t really care as long as he got attention. At one point he curled around my neck like a stole. I could get used to writing like that!