It’s a strange time to be writing a novel. My characters are mingling with others when I feel they should be socially distancing themselves and wearing masks — not for a masquerade ball, but for their health and safety. The words are coming slowly because I’m distracted by a pandemic that we don’t yet understand and whose end we can’t predict, and by a social revolution that’s been a long time coming and that I hope will leave our whole society in a better place. As the world comes to terms with all that’s going on… it’s difficult to concentrate.

However, as I said, I’ve been trying — so back to Christian and Ana. It’s 2011, and no social distancing is necessary, which is just as well for both of these characters, as they can’t keep their hands off each other. I feel like I’ve been writing this book forever. The first draft is still not complete, but I’m plugging away — and I thought, in honour of Christian’s birthday, I’d share the first draft of my first chapter.

This novel will be published when it’s finished. I just don’t know when that will be, but in the meantime –

Happy Birthday, Christian Grey.

Freed – Chapter One

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