Yesterday I opened an email from my editor and learned her response to the synopsis:

I have two words for you--Love. It.  

Those of you who've followed my synopsis-writing journey know how overjoyed I am to get this news! The book is tentatively titled The Midwife's Confession (thus the picture. Adorable, no?) and the focus will be on four women, all pushing forty, who have been best friends since college. I believe it will be due in August '09 or thereabouts, so there's no time to rest. I'll occasionally let you in on my progress.

The first thing I'll do is start breaking the story down into scenes. As soon as I hit "save" on this post, I'll  get out my color-coded index cards (a different color for each point-of-view character) and start jotting down scenes--as well as the character's emotional response to what's going on.

I'll also make decisions on structure, figuring out, for example, how to reveal certain things about one character who is, well, no longer among the living. And I'll get started on the research. I'm considering setting the story in Wilmington, North Carolina, which is on the Cape Fear River and close to a number of beaches. It's also the most active film-making site outside of Los Angeles and New York. I've never been to Wilmington and look forward to discovering an area that's new to me. 

The one unfortunate note in all of this is that my fabulous editor, Miranda, will not be working with me on this book. She's going on maternity leave in January, and since she's Canadian, she gets a full year! I'm sure my new editor will be wonderful, but Miranda is a hard act to follow.

Now, where did I stash those notecards?