As I approached the final edit of ‘Bed, Bath, & Blackmail’, I loaded my manuscript into a website called ‘Wordcounter.com’, a most useful tool.
This website came back with a list of my most-used words, along with their quantity. Imagine my surprise to see how often I used ‘when’, ‘about’, ‘back’, ‘down’, and ‘time’.
This tendency to use the same words over and over is a trap that writers groups won’t catch, because they see only a chapter or two at each meeting.
Most often, these redundant words … and the phrase that goes with them … can simply be eliminated. On occasion, another word brings more clarity to the context. My total word count for the story has been reduced by 3,000 words, resulting in a tighter story.
For the writers reading this post, I encourage you to give wordcounter.com a try. You’ll be amazed at the result!
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.
Such was the case when I purchased a table for the 4th Annual Craft Fair in Mansfield, MA, this past Saturday. Although my spot in the second room placed me away from the entrance, many shoppers made their way into my section. Young and old, male and female, mystery lovers come in all shapes and sizes.
The first story in the series ‘The Uninvited Guest’ outsold the second ‘Where There’s Smoke, There’s Trouble’, simply because readers were new to the series. Several purchased one of each as a Christmas gift set. Several accepted my bookmark as a reminder to link to my Amazon page and download the eBook version.
At the end of the day, I was pleased to realize I had placed more books in the hands of mystery lovers than in any previous single event… yea!
The 3rd story in my 4-book series is approaching the final scenes. I expect to turn it over to Riverhaven Books for editing after the holidays and subsequent publication in 2019. This installment in the Gwen Andrews mystery series is titled ‘Bed, Breakfast, & Blackmail’.
Without giving away the plot, I’ll simply tell you that this third story occurs just before Christmas and is centered around the fictional Harbor Falls Bed & Breakfast. Of course, Gwen will again become entangled in a police investigation, but this time with a twist!
During the research phase, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was indeed a B&B type of establishment across from the Norton Common in my town. It was called ‘Wheaton Inn’ and served as a hotel for many years before being torn down in the 1960s.
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.’
If you’ve never tried your hand at writing fiction, I’ll just share with you that it’s a wonderful way to keep your imagination active!
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.
I’m referring to An Unlikely Story in Plainville, Massachusetts. Children’s book author Jeff Kinney of Wimpy Kid story fame, built his unique bookstore on the site of the historic Falk’s Market at the intersection of Rt.106 and Rt.1A. Some of the shelving and stairs to the second floor were built using the floor boards from the old market… truly a nod to the past.
When my debut mystery ‘The Uninvited Guest’ was published, the Strong Women Book Group at An Unlikely Story chose it as their book of the month. I joined them at their follow-up discussion for an enjoyable question and answer session. I’ll be suggesting the second story titled ‘Where There’s Smoke, There’s Trouble’ and ask them to choose it as an upcoming monthly selection.
And it’s time to contact the venues located in the area around Largo, Florida. Last year, when I arrived in January as a first-time snow-birder, I was too late to be included in their calendars. Many suggested I touch base this fall as they’re preparing the calendar for 2019, promising they’d do their best to assign a date for my Author Talk.
About the daily writing efforts … re-sequencing is the word of every day as I continue to create story #3. ‘Bed, Breakfast, & Blackmail’ takes place during the days leading up to Christmas. After attending a 3-day forensics class at the Cape Cod Writers Conference last month, and then discussing the nitty-gritty details with my local police detective, I found I had to re-shuffle many activities one day earlier than I’d written them. Doing this is not as simple as it sounds. By moving a key piece of the investigation to the previous day, it impacts conversations between characters, where they go, and what they do. My opening chapters are now interspersed with green text to signify it’s been moved, and red text to signify re-writing is required. Chapter numbers are also changing as the quantity of pages in each ebbs and flows.
And so, I chug along each morning, knowing that one day, I will type ‘The End’ … and mean it!
As I’ve been penning the third story in my four-book mystery series, it occured to me that the first two stories were told strictly from the viewpoint of my amature sleuth Gwen Andrews. I wondered if transforming certain scenes to the viewpoint of another major character might add texture and depth to the story-telling.
And so I saved my WORD file under an adjusted title and gave this idea a try. The emotional impact within both main plot and sub-plot are becoming a more interesting page-turner for my readers. After all, it’s my readers that I need to satisfy!
The process of recreating those scenes from another POV will no doubt extend the time it’ll take me to reach ‘The End’, but I’m convinced this plan of action is worth the extra effort.
Which character was chosen for this second narrator? You’ll have to be patient as I fine-tune the dialogue and internal thoughts to solidify the logic and plot progression. I won’t be passing this third story to my publisher Riverhaven Books until I’ve exhausted my editing and polishing tasks.
A few months ago, I was contacted by the host of “Be My Guest”, an interview show on the Upton local cable station and scheduled for May.
The show’s host … Jan Miller … is a delightful woman who asked pertinent questions about the creation of my two published mysteries, ‘The Uninvited Guest’ and ‘Where There’s Smoke, There’s Trouble’. Jan also asked about my writing process and work in progress, which is titled ‘Bed, Breakfast, & Blackmail’. In addition, she touched on my volunteer effort as an audio book narrator for Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown.
The half hour flew by, and we said goodbye much too soon. She invited me to come back when my third story is published.
A delightful activity, and one that every author should pursue. Here is the link if you’d like to have a listen to the interview:
After two years of sharing my writing journey with audiences in New England, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Florida, I received a return invitation from the friends group of my local senior center to speak to them again about the current status of my writing life.
My first author talk to these volunteers explained the ins and outs of creating my debut mystery ‘The Uninvited Guest.’ Now that I’ve published my second story, ‘Where There’s Smoke, There’s Trouble’,my author talk needed to focus on the challenges of writing a series. My talking points had to be updated.
To this end, I pulled out my crib notes for the original talk, opened a new file titled ‘Author Talk, The Sequel’ and updated each step of the process from the viewpoint of the second story.
The fictitious seaside town of Harbor Falls remains
My amateur sleuth Gwen Andrews again solves the mystery
Creating Characters becomes ‘Who Stays, Who Goes’
The season switches from autumn to spring
The location within the town switches to the local bookstore
The plot has to be totally unique… no repetition from the first story
Research and local experts change as needed to support the new storyline
Decision to omit expensive outside editor
Cover creation based on new storyline
Publication remains with same independent house
Marketing is adjusted during approach to previous venues for follow-up talk
After I share this new Author Talk the first time, I’m sure I’ll find sub-topics that need to be tweaked, but that is simply the nature of a presentation.
My writers life in my retirement years remains a fulfilling activity. I continue to meet new and interesting people, keep my brain active, and hopefully provide enticing stories to my readers and ever-expanding base of fans.
For the past two years, I’ve been presenting my Author Talk centered around how I learned to write a mystery. I was thrilled recently to receive an invitation from the Friends group for my local senior center to speak to them again this April with an update on my writing career and my work in progress.
Obviously, my original outline will not be appropriate for this return engagement, so I need to re-create my notes, adjusting the various aspects of writing as it now relates to a series. Some of the topics will remain the same, but the content will be adjusted to move past the first story and into the next.
For instance, I will talk about choosing names for the characters, but for the second story, when some first story characters remain, and others drop off, I had to create new characters to support the new plot, being mindful of beginnings and endings, number of syllables. etc.
When speaking about the plot, this second talk will share that although the fictional town and main character will remain the same, the location within Harbor Falls will change, along with the season.
I need to be sure nothing from the first presentation is duplicated. Don’t want to bore audience members who attended my original Author Talk!
For my followers who live on the central Gulf Coast of Florida, I’m pleased to share that I’ll be presenting my author talk titled ‘Have you Ever Wondered How a Mystery is Written?’ not once, but twice, this Wednesday, February 21.
The afternoon presentation to the Caribbean Isles residents will begin at 2pm in the clubhouse on St. Croix. Park address for your GPS: 10900 Walsingham Road, Largo, FL.
The evening presentation to members of the Creative Writing Group will begin at 6pm. Location: Safety Harbor Public Library, 101 2nd St N, Safety Harbor, FL.
After both events, autographed copies of both ‘The Uninvited Guest’ and ‘Where There’s Smoke, There’s Trouble’ will be available.
Meeting new people who are interested in a writer’s journey and appreciate a good mystery is always a satisfying venture for me.
Because my first two published mysteries are set in a fictitious Massachusetts town, I’ve had no resistance from New England library directors or senior complex program organizers to schedule my Author Talk about the writing process. I’ve even had success in Pennsylvania and Delaware because I have siblings living in both states.
Similarly, New England bookstore managers have been open to placing my books on their shelves as either an outright buy or consignment.
But down here in Florida, where I’m a first-time snowbird for these winter months, stirring up interest in mysteries that do not take place in Florida are a hard sell. In all fairness, most library calendars are set months ahead of time, and I’ve been encouraged to make contact this fall for possible appearance in the 2019 calendar of events.
One of the most fascinating old-style bookstores in this area is ‘Haslam’s Book Store’ in St. Petersburg, FL. After a lengthy chat, the owner advised me in the nicest way possible that he doesn’t deal with out-of staters. He did offer to consider a future novel if I place the story down here on the Gulf Coast of Florida.
I’ve cast my net far and wide along the Gulf Coast towns in search of readers who might want to learn what it takes to write a mystery, for I know they will enjoy the learning experience, and perhaps be inspired to write that story that’s rattling around in their head.
My only option seems to be patience. Oh, yea, and planning ahead for next year.
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.
As I’ve been penning the third story in my four-book mystery series, it occured to me that the first two stories were told strictly from the viewpoint of my amature sleuth Gwen Andrews. I wondered if transforming certain scenes to the viewpoint of another major character might add texture and depth to the story-telling.
A few months ago, I was contacted by the host of “Be My Guest”, an interview show on the Upton local cable station and scheduled for May.
After two years of sharing my writing journey with audiences in New England, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Florida, I received a return invitation from the friends group of my local senior center to speak to them again about the current status of my writing life.
For the past two years, I’ve been presenting my Author Talk centered around how I learned to write a mystery. I was thrilled recently to receive an invitation from the Friends group for my local senior center to speak to them again this April with an update on my writing career and my work in progress.
for your GPS: 10900 Walsingham Road, Largo, FL.
Because my first two published mysteries are set in a fictitious Massachusetts town, I’ve had no resistance from New England library directors or senior complex program organizers to schedule my Author Talk about the writing process. I’ve even had success in Pennsylvania and Delaware because I have siblings living in both states.