First Draft
Renee’s heart raced as she typed the farewell love scene. She had written insurmountable barriers and even the stolen weekend at the beach house couldn’t save the doomed love affair.
She snapped her laptop shut and allowed a tear to roll down her face in genuine grief; she loved these characters.
“Darling, I can not live with that conclusion.”
“The novel is finished, so kindly get out of my head Mr. Edwards.”
She was fairly certain that she was imagining the soft whisper on her neck, until he turned her into his very real embrace.
“Then together let us create the epilogue.”
Another 100 word adventure for Mr. Edwards and Friday Fictioneers. Thank you to our hostess Rochelle Wisoff-Fields and to Sandra Crook for the photo inspiration. You can read more flash fiction here.
What's for dinner, Doc? 
This could be made into a perfect movie I think… I can really see them fading into an epilogue.. and the novel will be a bestseller.
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I think Mr. Edwards has a big story. I hope he reveals it to me.
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Awwww lovely
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Thanks Solo, I needed a little romance today. *sigh
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I agree with Björn! I could so see this becoming a movie!
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Well then you and Bjorn better write a few chapters of the screen play. I can’t seem to commit to more than a 1000 words or so. 😏
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Ha ha! I’ll wait…
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I’m waiting for the epilogue 🙂 Nice one.
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And the author and her character lived happily ever after. The End.
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Lovely story Tracey.
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Thanks Louise. I think I’m in love with Mr. Edwards. 💌
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Dear Tracey,
Have you seen the movie Stranger Thank Fiction with Will Ferrell? I think every writer needs to see it. I’m intrigued by Mr. Edwards and entertained by your writing.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I have not seen it. I’ll have to check it out. I love this character. He makes me smile every time he shows up.
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Mr Edwards seduces the author – I love it!
I think it was Dorothy L Sayers who did this the other way around, and wrote herself (in disguise) into the Peter Wimsey stories.
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I guess there’s really no original ideas left but I’m not finished with this couple.
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I like your idea much more than Dorothy L putting herself into a novel – your chap coming out into the author’s world has so much comic and romantic potential.
Perhaps a psychologist could tell why all us supposedly sane Friday Fictioneers fall in love with Mr Edwards, but if I were you I’d just get writing this! (Or at least storing it up for when you have time.) It is truly delightful.
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I’m on it!
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Ya put a smile on my face this Thanksgiving Eve 🙂
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That’s lovely. Happy Thanksgiving Dawn.
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Same to you Tracey.
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I’m a great fan of ghostly affairs of the heart. Nicely done.
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Thanks Sandy. He thinks he’s real.
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Sorry for the typo in your name. I guess we just can’t accept that you are a Crook and not a Cook. So sorry.
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If you’d ever been to our place for dinner, you’d have no problem accepting that. Especially after I’ve investigated your pockets whilst hanging up your coat… ooops! did I say that?
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It’s all clear to me now and I won’t make that mistake again. I’m afraid all you’d find is lint. ha ha
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Ahh, lovely. I sometimes wish some of my characters would come to life… others not so much!
C – ‘snapped’ the laptop shut, somehow sounds angry. ‘Slowly closed’? or something similar?
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Thanks Claire. I’ll look at “snapped” but it feels right to me. Not angry, more of a “ta da, that’s a wrap!”
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Ah, Okay. That makes sense.
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Boy, I don’t know, mixed marriages so rarely work…
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True, the vivacious novelist and the one dimensional 100 word wonder. What could possibly go wrong?
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wow. I liked that….
Randy
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Thanks Randy. Falling in love with one of your characters seems plausible and maybe necessary in romance fiction.
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…so kindly get out of my head… made me chuckle. As you know, I’m doing NaNoWriMo this month. My best friend these days has been “Kady.” We talk constantly (but she hasn’t come to life yet). Great story!
And you know what else, I actually cried when I finished the first draft of my first novel. I knew I was going to miss my MC. Luckily, I revisit him lots with my edits. 🙂
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Well I just hope Mr. Edwards makes the cut in the editing process. ha ha
We would be in trouble if all the FF characters came to life. Yikes – demons, killers, wife beaters, devil women.
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That epilogue should be more than fun. Delightful piece.
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Yes, I’m sure it will be. You know what they say about making up?
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Ooh, has Mr Edwards finally found his happy ending? Nice story!
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I’m not sure Ali. Can he find a happy ending in 100 words? He better be quick about it!
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good story. just in time for the holidays.
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First draft?? Oh, I thought we were having craft beer with your delicious Thanksgiving meal. Great story. 🙂
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Oh no, a sequel is on the way, or perhaps a spin-off.
“As The Stomach Turns.”
Such is the life of a romance writer. 🙂
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Right? The very nature of romance novels is silliness. A real relationship could not sustain the level of drama in a romance novel.
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This is absolutely delightful, Tracy. I love it. And I do understand the dilemma. When I first started writing The Smoky Mountain Series, I was determined that this novel was going to be a stand-alone piece because I wouldn’t even consider ever doing a series. But by the time I was to the end of the story, I was so in love with all my characters — and especially my hero — that I could not quit.
So four complete books later, I’m still living with this hero in my life — along with the men who became heroes in each succeeding story — and book number five is in the birth canal. I guess in a sense the books really are like the children who came from that love relationship with the original hero.
And it’s true that virtually all the “original ideas” for stories have been presented, but as one great creative writing teacher of the past century used to tell her students: our job as writers is to lay hold of those universal themes and tell their stories in our own new, fresh way. And for each one of us, it’s our personal spin that makes us valuable to those readers who are waiting.
I’m waiting to hear more from Edward and his beloved author.
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Thank you for the encouragement. Your thoughts and words are very much appreciated. I think there is hope for Mr. Edwards and his author. I’ll have to check out your Smokey Mountain Men.
Tracey
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Love where you took this Tracey. That sense that your characters are there, as you create a story. Wonderful!
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Thanks Dawn. It was fun to write.
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You make me fall in love with Mr. Edwards each time he shows up, and this here is an exceptionally lovely example. He is such a great character, of course he’s real… in a way. 🙂
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Of course, He’s real. I’m glad you love him. Me too.
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Loved this, the writing and the idea 😉
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Thanks Helen. I’m glad you loved it.
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A fictional romance or not so fictional? Good question. 🙂
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I’ve left that to your imagination Laura. Thanks for stopping by to comment.
Tracey
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Love it! Love the concept and the characters. Except write me into the next epilogue please, and make Renee a smokin’ hot redhead!
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She is and I will. Maybe like Mr. Edwards you’ll get the girl in the end. “The self-deprecating Perry stumbled into the novel and tripped over the smokin’ hot siren. Little did he know that he was destined to be lost on the cutting room floor after the first draft.” *Sigh I tried, I really tried.
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Ooh, this is a First Draft. I just wonder now what the second draft will bring. How will things develop from here? It’s getting hot in here. Fun, Tracey!
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I think Mr. Edwards is hoping for at least an R rated revision.
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He’s a feisty one!
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Very lovely and Mr Edwards has me thinking of Mr Darcy….there’s your epilogue.
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This is so clever. I love that Mr. Edwards materializes. This is expertly crafted. I have no criticisms for you.
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Thank you for taking the time to critique. I appreciate it Melanie. And thanks for the compliment.
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Very true – we all know how it feels to have our characters being so vivid they feel like they have come to life. incidentally have you seen the fllm Ruby Sparks?
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I have not seen the movie but I see the connection. Thanks for stopping by.
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Fantasy comes to life. A fragile mind falls into her own story.
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Hey there, I’m not fragile.
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Oh dear he is really real sorry. In my books all the characters are fantasy. Maybe I’m just afraid to write the truth.
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This is oh so lovely!!!
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Thank you
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That’s kind of creepie, Tracey. I’ve heard of characters taking over, but this one sounds like a spirit living in her house. His story might be interesting though. Or, she may want to call ghostbusters.
🙂 — Suzanne
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