Midday/Early Afternoon, Tuesday, December 17, 2024, Miami, Florida
It’s almost unimaginable – at least to me – that I’ve been crafting my debut novel, Reunion: Coda, for nearly two years. I embarked on this literary journey in the second week of March 2023, initially dubbing it “The New Story.” Now, it’s the week before Christmas 2024, and I’m still immersed in this creative odyssey. Yet, I can feel the story winding towards its climactic finale.
When I resumed working on the second book of what is now the Reunion Duology after moving to Madison, New Hampshire, from the Tampa Bay area in January, I had hoped that Reunion: Coda would be finished by now. I wanted to release it—in hardcover, paperback, and e-book format—for this year’s winter holiday season. I’d lost several weeks of precious writing time in the fall and winter of 2023 due to that move, but I expected that once I got back to the swing of things and established a working routine, I’d be able to finish my novel in New England – and in time for the 2024 gift-giving season.
Remember my stories about life in Madison and the difficulties I had with my housemate on Huttwil Drive? During those 10 months in New England, I made significant progress on my novel. Honestly, if I hadn’t needed to return to Florida in October, I would have likely met my December 10 goal. Reunion: Coda would be available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble Online, or by special order at your local bookstore.
But life had other plans, and I had to move out of my cozy writer’s haven two months ago, costing me almost two weeks of writing time. Now, the earliest I can hope to publish Reunion: Coda is in the first quarter of 2025. I know it’s a bit vague, but that’s the most realistic estimate I can give you right now.
For those of you who are keeping track of Reunion: Coda’s progress, this is where I stand:
- Number of Complete Chapters: 21
- Number of Pages: 476
- Number of Words: 117,623
As I sit down this afternoon in the warm embrace of Miami’s December sun, I’m filled with renewed hope and determination. My fingers hover over the keyboard, ready to dive back into the world of Reunion: Coda. With any luck, today’s writing session will mark the beginning of Chapter 22, or at the very least, the detailed outline of its first scene. Every word brings me closer to the conclusion of this incredible journey, and I can’t wait to share the final product with all of you. Here’s to the next step in this literary adventure.
A Certain Point of View, Too 
Comments
5 responses to “Writer’s Shop Talk: An Update on ‘Reunion: Coda’”
I know you know this, Alex, but, quality before speed. Funny, you and I have very different approaches to writing. Yours is probably the more useful— using outlines and the like. Me? I just pound out words. Then, the hard work comes. For me, the writing’s in the re-write. For my (novel?, novella?, long short story?), the story is done. Now, I just have to make it an interesting read. Back to you— you’re going to get this done and it will be a quality piece. When life gets in the way, you’ve got to take care of business. When the book’s ready to be finished— you’ll know. (Enough preaching. Just expressing my confidence in you!). Wishing you peace!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oddly enough, I started writing the novel “by the seat of my pants” without outlining scenes or chapters. I’d just read what I’d written the day before and ask myself, “What happens now?” It didn’t matter when the chapter was set (as in “Reunion: A Story.” the novel is set in two periods: Present Day [early 2000, two years after the novella’s events] and Jim’s high school years [1981-83, leading up to and following the events in the novella]). I didn’t plan anything too much…I just tried to answer “What happens next?”
I don’t know if it was the move to New Hampshire or if it was the closing of the high school section of the novel, but now that I’m focusing on the Jim-and-Maddie plot, it seems I must outline everything before I write it. It’s that “fiction must make sense” thing, I think. Plus, since it’s a love story, I want to avoid most of the cliches associated with romance novels.
So getting to the finish line is harder than I thought it would be.
LikeLiked by 2 people
The thing that matters is the effort. You’re going to get there. I remember the two timelines from the first book. I’ll be excited to see the finished product when you get “Coda” done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’ll find, Paul, that the structure of the novel is both similar and dissimilar from that in Reunion: A Story. In the first half of the duology, the Present Day scenes “bookend” the main narrative, i.e., the Jim and Marty “core” of the Duology. The novella starts in 1998, doubles back to June 15, 1983, then returns to 1998 for the denouement.
The novel begins with a prologue that begins in February of 2000 and segues back to June 15, 1983, minutes after Jim and Mark leave South Miami High School. Then…the story alternates between Jim Garraty at age 35 and Jim Garraty’s high school years, starting in the second half of his sophomore year and ending with his graduation ceremony in June of 1983. I chose this approach because one of my goals is to flesh out Marty’s character and show readers why she is so important to Jim in the first place. And, of course, I couldn’t handwave away her character’s fate without, you know, changing her story arc, so going backward to how she met Jim was the only way to give readers more of Marty’s story.
Telling that half of the overall story was easy; figuring out if Jim had learned from his experiences with Marty and was emotionally stronger as an adult proved to be tougher. After all, I can relate more to “high school Jim” because I took incidents from my high school years and fictionalized them (a lot!). I rarely had to outline those chapters.
With the multi-layered story of Jim and Maddie…the early chapters didn’t require outlining, but after a certain point in the story, I found that I needed to plan how to get them from Point A to Point B in a believable way. And…of course, I don’t want to do what many first-time novelists do…screw up the ending. So, even though I “see the light at the end of the tunnel,” I’m erring on the side of caution and not rushing pell-mell to finish Reunion: Coda.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think you’re wise not to rush, Alex. I feel the same way about my piece. Like I say, the story’s there, but the writing? Meh. I keep changing tacks, which is fun and educational. My only deadline is my own death. I would like to finish it before that time. 😉 But, as I say, I think you’re doing the right thing— taking your time and looking for the right ending. I’ll give you the same advice I’d give anybody, whether it’s about writing or, whatever. TRUST YOUR GUT!!! Wishing you peace.
LikeLike