Not a bad night’s work, considering I’ve neglected this story for so long.  I was letting it simmer on my mental backburner.  I know the main character of SanClare Scarlet so well, it’s easy to write him.  Sophie is someone I’m still getting to know, which makes the going a bit slower.  I like her, though.  I wrote a scene tonight where I think I found out a key thing about her.  Here’s the pivotal snippet:

When she’d finally climbed into bed sometime later, left alone by her maid and Polly and faced with her own thoughts, she had to dig her nails into her palms to keep the tears at bay. All she wanted was to fix things, but she’d already made so many mistakes. She wished more than anything that she had John’s courage and Polly’s gumption, but she was only Sophie. And that had never yet been good enough.