Second book is on the way!

Welcome to my first blog! I thought I would give you an idea on how I’m coming with my second book, Keeping Chastity Alive, and some general thoughts on writing. I hope you have enjoyed Epiphany’s Murder, and are looking forward to reading about the further exploits of Jake Powers, Pablo, Aisha, and some new characters who will be joining our current, small cast.

I’m very close to finishing Chastity, and I expect book 2 will be available in early 2023. Writing a book, I suppose, is like watching a baby gestate over the nine months it takes to carry a baby to term. Now I’m not woman, and I’ll admit those mothers among us might take issue with my analogy. But you start with an idea, then you build on it. Over time, it grows and grows until it’s ready for “birth.” I have a three-ring binder I collect my chapters in as I go along (Chastity is an electronic file, but I keep a paper back-up). I started with the first chapter and the binder is now quite thick. In two or three chapters, I will have a product I feel comfortable giving to an editor. Now some of the story may change during the editorial process. But the basics will remain the same.

Writers are said to be of two types, among the many possible classifications. There are pantsers and planners. A pantser gets an idea and goes with it. She just starts writing, having an idea where she’s going but enjoying the creative process as she goes along. The book might veer right as she writes it, or it might veer left. It will “become” as she puts words to paper. A planner, on the other hand, outlines a book before she writes it. The truth is in the outline. Once the planner is through with what might be a sixty or seventy page outline, the only issue is putting in the work and get to where you’ve already planned on going.

I guess I’m a little bit of both. I have an overall outline in my head and on paper. But as I go, I modify the plot along the way. The story gets where I planned on going, but it might veer a bit as the creative process plays out. For those of you planning on writing your own novels, I encourage you to soldier on. Don’t talk about it. Do it! Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Don’t spend six years on it as you write and rewrite. Have an idea where you want to go, sketch it out, and get going. Those who take years to write a book might write great literature. But with commercial fiction, which is what the Jake Powers Series is, don’t talk about it. Write! And don’t show so many people who suggest changes that you’re constantly taking suggestions and writing and rewriting. Believe in yourself.

I’ll be back on the blog when I finish Chastity and begin on book 3. But for now, Ciao.