Maybe it’s more like being a parent than I had previously thought when I wrote about having placed Witness Tree with a publisher. Things seemed to be going well. Until they weren’t.

So Witness Tree is back home, unemployed, chastened but going out on lots of “interviews.” And like a great many interviews, the standard refusal is no response.

At least it’s not wasting its time watching reality television and only dressing in sweats. But it is here, and I feel its weight.

During Covid, like many families, two of our grown children came home. One, from university, the other to work remotely. I can say unequivocally that I prefer having the kids in the house to (re)hosting my manuscript.

I second-guess myself—is the pitch any good, have I truly resolved the threads? Time, of which there seems to be both too much and too little, will tell.

One of the best parts of publishing something is that it’s done. You could always do something different with the manuscript or fix a typo. But you can move on from a published manuscript, and you can leave it alone. It is what it is and will stand on its own.

In contrast, one that isn’t “out there” tugs at your sleeve, craves attention.

Maybe my endless tinkering will make the book better. Maybe I’m just polishing a turd.

Obviously, if I believed it was a turd, I wouldn’t spend the time polishing it. But the next book (Hours) and some half-finished short stories grow impatient for me to move on.

I tell myself each morning that I chose this life.

Some days, that’s helpful. Some days, not.

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James McCrone’s stories raise questions about the nature of power, the choices we make and the lessons we don’t learn.

He’s the author of the Imogen Trager political suspense-thrillers Faithless Elector, Dark Network and Emergency Powers–noir tales about a stolen presidency, a conspiracy, and a nation on edge. Bastard Verdict, his fourth novel, is about a conspiracy surrounding a second Scottish Independence referendum. His current novel, Witness Tree, is out on submission.

All books are available on BookShop.org, IndyBound.org, Barnes & Noble, your local bookshop, and Amazon. eBooks are available in multiple formats including Apple, Kobo, Nook and Kindle.

James is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Int’l Assoc. of Crime Writers, and he’s the current president of the Delaware Valley chapter of Sisters in Crime. He has an MFA from the University of Washington in Seattle, and he now lives and writes in Philadelphia, PA.

For a full list of appearances and readings, make sure to check out his Events/About page. And follow him on here, or on Substack!

Some of his short stories are available FREE online. Links are HERE, toward the bottom of the page.