Somewhere back, far far ago, in my blog, I wrote a post about why the first book I released was The Girl on the Half Shell. Chrissie was a product of my generation, a woman who came to age during those decades of often over-looked change in the role women between my mother's generation and my daughter's generation. A messier time for woman. Less clear. In transition. But me, laughing. And I wanted to write something that might someday give my daughters a little insight into me.

As I started to roll in spinoff series--Affair without End, Sand & Fog, Locked & Loaded--I started to incorporate another theme about life I believe. Two people can be in the same significant moment, experience the same thing, but have it mean something different and walk away believing it was different, or rather, different things were made significant. I do that in Broken Crown, pulling in the one scene from Half Shell, when Chrissie runs back to Malibu for Alan. Then in the two of Sand & Fog, Kaley and Alan have their share of shared moments with different meanings, hopefully illustrated in The Girl of Sand & Fog.

But that Jackson Parker. He's the center of the universe I think. Even though not often on the pages of every book so far in the Parker Saga, his presence is felt and he's largely shaped who all these character became. Conversely, they've largely shaped him. So in writing his story I'm crossing all over the universe, the moments of others he shared, and what they were to him.

Everyone in a shared moment can be touched by it in different ways, and it doesn't have to be their moment to do that.

The first 100K words is just his story with Lena. A Very long novel on it's own. The second half of the book, nope, couldn't write it without pulling in those significant moments lived in other books. They are part of Jack. Who he became. The man he was for everyone in the Parker Universe, but more importantly, the man he was for Linda.

A rather complex, emotionally exhausting effort. I've probably cried more writing this book than with any other. I know I've worried more because Jack is man who has lived life and the rock in people's universe often isn't the one who's done everything right. It's the one who has lived.

So as I slug through the finalizing process of the last few pages, I'm wondering if anyone will like what I attempted to do, and if not, maybe it will just make them think. No moment in our life is ever only about us or as clear as we think it is.

As ever, I wish you Peace.