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| I print out all my written work to save. |
Last week I edited my last chapter of book eight in my Catherine Jewell mystery series – Amaryllis for Phyllis. I still need to reformat it into book size, do more editing and change a few things while I wait for my step-granddaughter to create the cover for it. I have already put in the beginning pages – title page, the page listing my previous books, the third page for dedication and acknowledgements, and a page of characters in my book leaving out those who aren’t as important. My readers like having a list of the characters with a short bit on who they are. When this is posted, I’ll probably already have some chapters in the book form.
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| Groundhogs can be quite annoying. |
I
have started writing notes and ideas for my next book. Each of my books reflects
a month starting with June. My new book will reflect February. I need to come
up with a title for it, but that may take some time. There’s Groundhog’s Day in
February, but I can’t see how that would work in a title or even in a mystery.
The Murder of Punxsutawney Phil? My mysteries don’t take place in Pennsylvania
and animals can never be killed in cozies.
Of
course, there’s Valentine’s Day, too, and I’m playing with that thought. I’m
planning a Valentine’s Day dinner for a charity at a local restaurant. Could
someone be murdered there? How? There
would be lots of people there which could provide more possible suspects.
I
can’t see how Lincoln’s birthday would fit in, either, or Washington’s
birthday, although I have a character named Lincoln –Linc for short. Almost
every one of my titles has a flower in it which goes along with the month my
book takes place in. The flowers can’t be one flowering during the month and
would have to be one from a greenhouse.
As
for the murder, I’ve used a garden fork, a shovel, poison, guns, an axe, a
large candleholder, the antlers of a deer, and a few other ways I can’t think
of right now, especially since I’ve used various methods in my short stories,
too. I like to introduce myself to
people as the little, old, white-haired woman who murders people. You should
see the raised eyebrows with that introduction.
I’m
making a list of returning characters and some new ones I’ll bring in, and
working on who will be the victim, and who the murderer will be. I have a vague
idea about how the person will be murdered, but haven’t quite figured out the
details yet. I write bios for each new character I bring in, and some returning
characters are going to play a more important part than they have in previous
books. One has been a character of interest. He’s a bit of a recluse with
problems. I don’t write much of a bio for the victim or the murderer since they
will never return. And, of course, my two main characters, Catherine Jewell and
Police Chief John MacDougal will be back with major parts, too.
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| The Davis family first appeared in this book. |
I
had planned to take a break from writing another Catherine Jewell mystery and
return to working on a middle-grade book I’ve started, but then the night I
started the reformatting of Amaryllis for Phyllis, I lay awake with the first
chapter of the next Catherine Jewell mystery popping into my head and the voice
of an adorable little girl, Hannah Davis, who readers of my books have loved.
So what else can I do but start the new book?
Anyone
who can help me with the title, I’d appreciate any suggestions. Or a new way to
murder someone I haven’t used yet. I guess it wouldn’t matter if I use
something I’ve used before if it was done in a different way. I do have a
wonderful book on poisons.
Happy Groundhog’s Day
If
you’re a writer, how do you go about starting new books?
If
you’re a reader what kinds of murder do you not like to read about?
