Something happened the other day. I’d just finished working on the first edit of Voices from the Mist when an agouti paca mother stood right outside my office. Of course, she scurried back to her den to protect her babies but I stayed behind in the garden and took a deep breath.

Have you ever picked up a self-help book only to find you weren’t ready to go there yet? It happened to me in my thirties when I first tried to read Courage to Heal by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis. People praised it for how much it helped them. I read a few pages then skipped to the exercises.

My agent said, “Evelyn, after reading your book proposal I’ve classified your book as a murder mystery. The genre is your choice, but as you know, my specialty is turning books into movies.” He had to go and drop the “M” bomb, every fiction writer’s dream.