Sort of. I stopped at 71,225 words. The book is summarized to the end. (Shhh . . . some people would call that an outline, but I write organically, and I don’t want to scare my brain. Like many of you, I was traumatized by a rabid outline in middle school, and I haven’t quite overcome the experience.)  I finished that yesterday. Today I went back to where I finished writing and started summarizing and began writing again, deleting the summarization as I eclipsed it.

I’m just coming to the exciting part of the book. I stopped in the middle of the neighbor’s house burning down. I continue to be amazed at the lengths a writer will go to just to avoid writing a gratuitous sex scene. But, there you have it. I didn’t need to write the scene but how to get the characters out of it? The kid comes dashing in. She’s usually calm, cool, and collected. What would cause a kid like that to go bonkers? Apparently, her friend’s house burning down a few houses down — when she’s inside it. So much for mom and dad’s thoughts of a few moments alone.

I declare the first draft of Threads & Ties complete. Even though, with the last 15-20k still to be fleshed out, that’s going to be a very ugly revision.