Part Z, the last in a continuing story from A to Z [link to the beginning]
Zoey was drifting in the void, trying to hold on. She wasn’t ready to go, didn’t want it to be over.
She heard his voice calling her through the darkness and fought even harder not to let go. She didn’t want to leave this place. Not yet.
“Zoey love, are you all right?”
No, she wasn’t. She wasn’t ready for it to end.
“Zoey, c’mon. It’s okay, let go.”
She sighed and opened her eyes, giving in to the inevitable, and smiled up at the handsome familiar face leaning over her.
EDIT TO ADD:
This used to be a post containing 1750 words and the ending of a story. I’ve deleted almost all of those words for reasons I talk about HERE.
The TL;DR version is that I hated this rough draft ending and have changed it, drastically, in the expanded and edited version of the story I’m planning to self-publish. If you’re new to reading this blog and haven’t yet read the regrettable ending, I don’t want you to get that old version stuck in your head.
Tough decision, really tough, because it seems like a giant tease to delete it (even though it was available here for almost three weeks). But I’d rather do that than leave any more readers disappointed with an ending that just doesn’t work.
If you’d like to be notified via email when the revised story is available, you can sign up here for my mailing list.
KD James 
Yes! Reality check. Fantastic!
I loved seeing how you pulled all of this together, KD. You have really inspired me with your use of cliffhangers at the end of each post.
And as for ‘needing some impetus to start writing fiction again’ – this was a monumental success. Go YOU!!!
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Thank you, Kae! Right now, my brain feels like a thundercloud emptied of rain and blown away in pale wisps by a fresh breeze. I think I could sleep for a week straight. Or at least one night. 😴
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Applause!!
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You made it. Not an easy undertaking. But the end of the alphabet has come. Yeah, I am not sure I will do this again. Great job.
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Very interesting twist ending to a fantastic story! Yes, you are required to write another one. I might be nice tho, and let you have until next April to get started. But the thought of a new one beginning on Monday still fights to be acknowledged……………
Congrats on finishing AtoZ! You do realize that 40k words with Sundays off computes to 50k in a month. You’ll be doing another one in November for Nano, right?
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That was fantastic!!!! I enjoyed all of it. Every single scene – and the ending tied up all the loose ends. I want more! You are so good at fiction. It was fun.
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Congratulations on completing the challenge!
@ScarlettBraden from
Frankly Scarlett
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Well done! I will go stand by Pen and applaud 🙂
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Thank you, everyone, for the kind words and congrats! It took forever for my brain to calm down and sleep after this last post, but then I slept all day.
EM, pretty sure I won’t do this challenge again. Not to write a book in public anyway. It was just too much.
Dena, I only tried NaNo one time. I lasted six days before life interfered. But I think it would be a snap compared to this. There’s no editing or posting with NaNo. I bet I could write twice as many words at this pace if I hadn’t stopped to edit. Although, right now, the mere thought makes me shudder.
Thanks again, so much, to everyone who followed along. There is honestly nothing better and more encouraging for a writer than having an audience.
Back to my dragon cave. I think I need a nap.
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I don’t want this to end! In fact, I started reading earlier in the process but couldn’t bear the wait for each new installment so endured until the month was done when I could read it all in one (suspenseful between scenes) sitting. Absolutely wonderful! The characters, word play, surprises around every corner, just everything! Thank you for this gift to your readers!
Publish, please, and, MORE, please!
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Holy Wow, KD. That was wonderful. The cliffhangers at the end of your “chapters” were so well done. I was lucky since I was behind, and I got to read on immediately after a cliffhanger instead of getting stranded in suspense overnight or over the weekend.
Your characters were so vivid, Anton and Zoey at the top, but even your more minor characters like Anton’s mother were instantly easy to picture with your descriptions.
I hung on right till the end. And I agree with a comment you made, had this been Nano, with no editing necessary, you probably could’ve conquered 80,000 words which is just sick to think about.
Well done, hearty congratulations on a magnificent story, and enjoy a long nap.
P.S. I would never have picked out a story like this to read, but I enjoyed it thoroughly beginning to end. Nice work!
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Thanks John! I never would have picked a story like this to WRITE. Not sure what got into me, other than a need to be silly and not care if it was a big old mess. It’s funny that you say it was easy to picture Anton’s mother– I don’t think I ever described what she looked like. This confirms my theory that less is more with that kind of thing. 🙂
FL, I totally understand. I HATE it when I can’t read an entire story at my own pace (which is fast). It would drive me crazy to read something like this over an entire month. I’m surprised anyone did. I’m so pleased that you enjoyed it! It makes all the late nights worth it.
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🙂
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Congratulations KD. That’s a lot of words. Now NaNo will be easy. I loved NaNo.
I have to go back and read from the beginning.
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Thanks, Angie! It’s a lot of words to write, but perhaps even more to read. Let me know what you think if you ever get through it all.
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That was fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. Can I be you when I grow up?
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Why would you want to be me when you can be ME? (sorry, couldn’t resist) Seriously, you are a fabulously talented writer, with a great voice. You just need to decide to get back to doing it again. *push* Also, thank you. 🙂
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