Things are going reasonably well. I'm zeroing in on the ending now. But before I can really attack that, I need to bring out the emotional resolution between OW and SA, which means setting up the blocks they have toward being happy together. In this case, SA is concerned about OW being hurt and he'll do anything to protect her from that. I think this will be really sweet and heartbreaking.

On a related note, a reviewer sent me her review of Lord Ruin and added a personal note. Two parts in particular sent me into a tizzy: For those of you who have despaired of late, searching for something, anything, to keep your interest in the sea of same old, same old, I've found the book you're looking for. In her personal note to me, among many other wonderful things, she said I just found something in it I haven't found in many books of late and I just wanted to say thank you. I really needed a book that I could lose myself in and it's been forever, years even, since I've been able to do that. My reaction to this was instant panic! Why? Because what if I can't do that again? But, shaking off the insecurity, I will do it again. In fact, The Spare shows every sign of succeeding in that. In some ways, the problem is that Lord Ruin was too close and The Spare is a different sort of story. Now that it's standing more on its own, with more and more of it darn good, I find myself working with more confidence in these characters and their story. But whew! I surely do feel the pressure. But, these comments validate my feeling that just because readers enjoy the glib writers doesn't mean they don't want other stories that really grab you. Glib doesn't do that. Glib is fun and pleasureable, but I want to write stories that make your heart pound and that make you see multiple levels of meaning, that deal with ambiguity without necessarily resolving it.