I typed ‘The End’ on Storm Watch: Book Three in the Unfinished Business series a week ago. The gift of a late winter snowstorm, and an unexpected day off, allowed me to finish the final edits. Multiple challenges made this the hardest book of my writing career to complete. I didn’t have the melancholy many writers describe when they have to pull themselves out of the story–and their characters’ lives, even when it’s a happily ever after. Until I did the formatting, uploaded the manuscript, and sent it off to my editor.

I now have this big void in my head: no more flashes of inspiration on how to perfect a scene. No insights on how the friends that my characters have become over the last ten years react to the challenges they’re facing. No more anxiety about finishing the story-and what is likely to be the last book in…