Living: the ultimate team sport

Irene Frances Olson: falling in love with my second novel

Posted on January 22, 2016 Updated on January 26, 2016

As of yesterday, I’ve read through and edited my second novel twice. I completed this novel the end of November (writing it in one month during NaNoWriMo). The length at that time was 60,203 words.

Bridged by Betrayal is a healthy 75,366 words.

Next steps:

1. print paper copy, do another edit, this time with colored pens & highlighters;
2. transfer pen edits to the computer copy;
3. print several paper copies so my Beta readers can get their hands on my manuscript and apply their constructive magic to it;
4. review said editorial contributions; accept and reject edits and “finalize” the “final” version;
5. write full-length synopsis for those agents who request one;
6. start querying agents.

I love, love, love my characters, and I hate the characters who rightly earned that hate. 

There’s high school teacher, Charlie Brooks, who feels he was betrayed by his girlfriend, Gretchen Marks, who turns out to be someone Charlie realizes as being an intolerant and uncaring person.

Months after that betrayal, Gretchen Marks’ career as a behavioral psychologist is on the brink of ruins when her actions towards one of her clients changes Gretchen’s life – and that of her client’s – forever.

Hannah Palmer, a single mother with an adorable eight-year old son, Sammy, will win over readers’ hearts from his very first spoken words on the page, just as he won over Charlie’s heart when he started dating, and fell in love with, Sammy’s mother.

And Amit Singh, Seattle Uber driver and ersatz confidant, who becomes an unlikely friend to Gretchen Marks during an especially difficult time in her life. When need forces Gretchen’s hand to restore the many burned bridges of her past, Amit’s gentle manner softens some of Gretchen’s rough edges, and eases her through the emotional and physical struggles that threaten her very existence.

There is no easy way to say it: when a magnifying glass is placed in front of a person, it’s virtually impossible to ignore the imperfections and scars it reveals.

It’s what we do with those revelations that marks the true essence of a person.