The new ending is here!

I finished the new ending. *applause* It only took me a year and a half to write four more chapters. Sorry about that. I hope you enjoy it.

The first scene in Chapter 84 is new, and you need to read it because it sets up the ending. I also added a comment here and there throughout the book about the ward's topography. What you need to know is that if you go up the street all the characters live on, and turn right, you're in a cul-de-sac of big homes that was built on a steep hillside during the housing boom. I revised Chapter 90 (which used to be the last chapter). Once you get to the bottom of Chapter 90, click on "next post" and that will take you to the rest of the ending. I fiddled with the posting dates to keep the book together sequentially. Chapter 94 is the final chapter now.

The book finally also has a title: "Under My Neighbor's Roof." That fits the tone of the book a lot better.

You know where I got the idea for the structure of this book? From watching LOST. I thought it was fascinating to see how the characters' behavior was affected by their backstory and how their storylines wove together. I didn't care as much about the island's mysteries as about how peoples' past affects their present. I enjoyed exploring that theme in this novel.

Most of the dramatic events in the novel occurred before the novel even started. I didn't use flashbacks. The exact way the event happened wasn't nearly as important as the way the characters interpreted and remembered the event. By listening to the way the character recounted the event, we learned how that event affected them, rather than just what happened.

Thanks again for reading. All of you were great motivation, and I appreciated your comments and encouragement. I'm not writing anything right now. I have three tiny boys who have first claim on my time. But ideas keep bubbling up anyway and I keep jotting them down. We'll see what happens in the next few years.

Love you all,
Melinda