The Beginning of the End

I’m getting REALLY close to finishing my final edits on my novel, The Secret of the Codex. I’ve posted a few excerpts on here (and have gotten some really great feedback from you; thanks!), but I wanted to give you a glimpse into my writing and editing the climax of the story.First, a little background on me: I LOVE stories, so, consequently, I love *scripted* TV shows and movies. But here’s the weird part: when I watch a movie, I tend to fall asleep during every climax. Seriously - give me an action movie and I’ll start falling asleep as soon as the music crescendos and the protagonist and antagonist start punching each other. It’s inevitable.I think I love the setup of the story so much - the backstory and character development - that once I get to the usually predictable climax, I’ve checked out. Doesn’t help that it’s usually past my bedtime…Enter my book.Every time (I am on my fourth edit, which means I’ve been through the climax with a fine-toothed comb 5 times) I start reading the climax of my book, I get excited. I think this is what gets writers and authors like me up in the morning: to see the conclusion of a story we’ve developed with blood, sweat, and tears from nothing into a full, complex, *hopefully* life-changing story. It’s a pretty incredible feeling!So to give you a little taste of how this book starts to end (this is at the beginning of the climax), I wanted to give you a short excerpt. I ran across this the other night as I was running through my final edit and I couldn’t stop thinking about it even today. I can just picture Grady and Na-um’s expressions in this scene and I love it. Here it is; I’d love to know what you think!***************************************“So nice to see all of you again.” Na-um’s voice was sickeningly sweet as hundreds of his men flowed into the room like the crashing waves of a violent river. Na-um smirked.Grady stood unwavering, a step in front of the other three. His hands were out at his sides, palms facing backward as if trying to shield them.Na-um’s mocking laugh echoed throughout the room. “Your show of arrogance will not stop me. You cannot stop me.”Now it was Grady’s turn to smirk. Kayla took a step around him and stood at his side. Mandy and Justin followed suit.Na-um’s smile faltered....No. It couldn’t be. Surely they didn’t…But looking at the four Americans standing in front of him, Na-um saw it. It was undeniably obvious, painfully so. He saw it on their faces, in the glow of their skin, in the assuredness of their stance.They had found the Codex.