My intention was to do what Salten had done, to create a story about forest animals in which all that happens is authentic to actual animal behavior but in which, in order to develop a deeper and more complex story, the animals are given human language. It seemed a good decision at the time, and it was a decision I remained content with as I wrote Runt. However, as I returned to my research about wolves to prepare myself to enter their world again, something began to happen. I grew more and more deeply impressed with the way wolves actually communicate with one another. And I grew more and more aware that, by giving them human speech, I have changed something profound in their natures. And I grew less and less sure that it is a choice I want to make again.

I can't write a second story about Runt/Singer unless I give him and the other animals speech. And so I have been stopped, teetering on a precipice of my own indecision. My hope—because I do want to write a sequel—is that I can bring myself back to the place I was in when I wrote Runt, accepting the convention of animals, even realistic animals, talking in stories.

In the meantime, I have written—and rewritten several times—another novella for Stepping Stones, this one called The Very Little Princess. It's completed now. Even the copyediting is finished. It's a story about a very tiny doll who comes to life. She is made out of china and, therefore, utterly perfect, so perfect that when she sees herself she decides she must, of course, be a princess...and the large, much-less-than-perfect girl peering down at her is obviously her servant.

The story started off on that rather amusing premise and ended up—while still including that premise—exploring profound loss. I wrote about my journey through that story in my journal last time, though I was just beginning the final draft as I wrote about it. Now it is finished, and I am glad to say that both my editor and I are content with the story I have spun.

My editor wants me to do a prequel to The Very Little Princess. I have agreed and have a deadline on that, so I am back to teetering. Do I take another leap at the sequel to Runt first, or do I need to give myself lots of time to meet my deadline on another Princess book?

Or perhaps I can do something entirely different to fulfill that contract. I have an idea for another ghost book to be called The Golden Ghost. I think I could write that more quickly, then turn back to Runt, then to the prequel for The Very Little Princess.

It's a good decision to have to make. In these days when so many people are out of work—my daughter, who is the primary support of her family, has been unemployed since last May—I am fortunate to have work I want to do and editors wanting to publish it. But in this case, I won't know what I'm actually going to do until I start writing...which is the very next thing I plan to do.