Crossing The Finish Line

It's taken me five months and an equal amount of beta readers, but I think I'm finally there. My WIP, Remembering Iris, is polished up and ready for viewing by my agent. I wrote the first draft, edited it using Margie Lawson's techniques, added in the senses where they were missing, made sure there was enough conflict, dumped it into a word program, read through it, ran it through my editing software, let five people read and comment on it (Thank you all, BTW. It was a real help.) Then I read it again. And again.

I finished the final read-through this week. The fingers off the keyboard read-through (well, almost, anyway.) I'm ready to send it off and begin the next story. And therein lies the dilemma. What to do next? Shall I write Gaston's story? He's been nagging me for years now. Or Anjanette's? She unexpectedly wouldn't leave the pages in the work I just finished. How about Lily? All I have for that one is a wealth of information on building mazes from boxwoods, a kilt and a broadsword. The rest of what I'd written has been scuttled. What do do? Which way to turn?

I'm headed for the hills this weekend, where I will discuss my Lily plot with someone who's got a good grasp of puzzles. Perhaps by the time the weekend is over, I'll know which way to turn.