The creation of “Regrets Only”… the 5th story in the Gwen Andrews mystery series… required more hours than the previous tales. Opting to take Gwen and her sister out to Nantucket for a Halloween party brought with it an entirely different challenge.
And here’s why. The first four stories in the series took place in the fictional town of Harbor Falls, Massachusetts, a place of my imagination with street names I’d chosen and buildings where I needed them.
But on Nantucket, streets carry established names. The ferry docks, police station, and mid-island grocery store are located in particular sections of the island. Because I couldn’t fake these details, my daytrip friend suggested we ride the ferry to explore the island’s nooks and crannies. After three days of gaining a good sense of the island and its details, we headed back to the mainland and I continued the writing.
But as usually happens, my original plot veered off, taking twists and turns, leading me to a ending different than I’d planned.
Now here I sit, working through my completed manuscript one scene at a time. Adjusting character dialogue. Eliminating unnecessary words. Summarizing repeated passages. Tightening the prose. Making sure the foreshadowing matches the events that eventually take place.
When I finish this last edit and feel proud to release “Regrets Only” to mystery lovers, I’ll place the file in the hands of my very capable publisher for her review and final suggestions. When all adjustments are applied, she’ll upload to my Amazon page, and submit the order for printed copies to be autographed.
When that banner day arrives, I’ll turn to Gwen in my mind and ask, “What mystery would you like to solve next?”
Every fiction writer knows the frustration of plotting their story. Especially with a mystery, such as I create, the plot not only needs to proceed logically toward the climax, but the characters, dialogue, and actions within each scene need to be believable to the reader as the clues are subtly inserted into the story.
This Wednesday afternoon, I’m returning to Upton, MA, to participate in a follow-up interview with Jan Lewis, hostess of the Upton local cable show ‘Be My Guest’. We’ll be talking about the 3rd story in my Gwen Andrews mystery series ‘Bed, Breakfast, & Blackmail’.
I’m thrilled to announce that the 3rd story in the Gwen Andrews series is finally published!
As I approached the final edit of ‘Bed, Bath, & Blackmail’, I loaded my manuscript into a website called ‘Wordcounter.com’, a most useful tool.
There is nothing sweeter than setting up an author table at a holiday craft fair, then waiting for the browsers to wander past, stopping to chat about my characters, the setting, the storyline. If the two of us connect over my mystery series, another reader will walk away with one of my books, anxious to meet my amateur sleith Gwen Andrews.
As the author, I developed my B&B replacement based on a 3-floor center hall colonial design. I’m thrilled that the Colonel Blackinton Inn has given me permission to use a photo I snapped of their establishment to represent my B&B in the cover photo. My publisher will adjust the sign to read ‘Harbor Falls Bed & Breakfast.’
There is nothing more satisfying than to walk into a bookstore and see both of my mysteries displayed on the shelf in the local author section.
Debi Graham-Leard 