Hummingbird

When I was writing The Color of Courage, my superhero book, Daley, the heroine needed a safe place to rest after being released by the police post-arrest-for-something-she-didn't-do. Her sister, Sarah, takes her to Sarah's boyfriend, Jason and is 100% confident Daley will be safe. When Jason shows Daley the guest room she can use, he says the phone is secure. She asks why it's secure, and he says:

"I work for Hummingbird."

It's a throwaway line that an editor may have me remove. Jason plays a miniscule role in the book and the section is easily replaceable by a million different options. But when I wrote that line, Daley's response was the same as mine:

Whoa.

Today I was doing a final proof of the full manuscript for submission. When I read that section I got the same zing, the same resonance, as I had the first time I wrote it and every time I've read it since. Today I decided Jason has to have his own book, and the first line will be "I work for Hummingbird." I have a few ideas sketched out for the story and it's already giving me that new-book excitement.

Of course, I have to finish Unbreakable, and then revise Under the Moon, and then revise Behind the Scenes, and then revise Unbreakable. And then I have at least one other idea that has been percolating before this one, and choosing which one is next will be difficult. But I can't help embracing this falling-in-love feeling...it's just like finding out you're pregnant.*

God, I love my job.
~~~~~~~~~

*When you want to be.