Cover appears - Dark Secrets !

I'm really very pleased with the cover for my newest novel, Dark Secrets - it's dark and intriguing like the novel.

The editor has begun working on my novel but I've not received anything back so far.  One comment she has made which I'll pass along to you is that when you use a foreign language, the words must be italicized.  She's doing that as she moves through the manuscript.  She's also checking my French... which I admit could be a bit rusty.

As I wait, I'm working on another "Oyster Point Mystery" with Jack, the Chief of Police, and Jamie, a cyber expert and budding detective, returning to find themselves enmeshed  in a number of cold cases once again.  To complicate their lives, Lizz, Jack's sexy ex-girlfriend, and Matt, Jamie's handsome motorcycle riding ex-boyfriend reappear in their lives.  How will this affect Jack and Jamie's relationship?  Is it strong enough to withstand the feelings of young loves gone bad?  Even I don't know at this point.  Lizz is hotly pursuing Jack and Mike... not sure what he's going to do.  But Jack is beginning to feel a bit of jealousy.  Jamie, confronted by the perfectly made up and adorned Lizz, sexy in everything she wears and does, is feeling threatened.  Will these feelings of jealousy and doubt cloud the love they feel for one another?

In the meantime, Jamie's dreams begin again because of this new cold case she's interested in -- a young girl found buried in a shallow grave.  As hard as it is for her to experience these dreams, they always contain nuggets or facts that  help them find the murderer in the future.

Well, enough of a preview into the next Oyster Point Mystery!  I love working with these two characters because their backgrounds tend to provide very fertile ground for many twists and turns.

Au revoir... keep writing,
Judi

ACCEPTED - Dark Secrets!!!

Well, "Dark Secrets" has been accepted by the publisher!!  I'm so excited. 

The photo on the left is from my apartment in Montmartre. I had to take you back to Paris with this novel.  I loved it there.

"Dark Secrets" will introduce you to the city of Paris through my eyes.  Jacques will steal your heart away and Brielle, well, she'll transform right before your eyes from a woman who's emotions are frozen because of a childhood event to a woman who falls in love with a city she thought she would hate, and yes... Jacques.  Now there's a problem.  Is it Paris or is it him? And can she discover what happened to her mother?  She and Jacques take that dangerous journey together.  What they discover you just won't believe!

So, I'm working with the publisher on the cover.  I think you're going to love it and an editor has been assigned... nothing yet.  My prediction is that the book will be released by mid-July!!! 

I'll let you know... this journey has been so unexpected and so awesome.  Book #3 coming soon.

As I go through the editing, I'll discuss what we find.

Keep writing and don't lose faith... you can never tell when a miracle might happen.

Till,
Judi

Biting my nails waiting...

Well, submitted my latest manuscript to the publisher and now I wait.  

I read, edited, reread it and was not happy with the ending.  I tinkered with it, but it felt like I was droning on and not adding to the story.  I had already cut out an entire chapter that wasn't moving the story ahead and I added one sentence later that conveyed what I had said in that chapter.  So I went to bed and during the night, my mind solved the ending.  Early the next morning, I rewrote it.  It was much much better.  Off the manuscript went to the publisher.

As usual, I worked hard to make the characters 3-dimensional.  I've talked about this before -- characters need a rich background to make them who they are when readers meet them.  If they aren't interesting, why would the reader care about them?  In this case, Brielle had watched her mother walk away when she was four.  This feeling of abandonment coated everything in her life.  All her choices were safe ones, ones made so she wouldn't be hurt again.  

This quote from the book gives you a peek into what Brielle is feeling...

"Every single thing in her life was in shambles except for her job. Who had she become, letting her selfish hate taint everything.  She had lied to Philip about her mother, had tolerated his condescension because he wasn't a threat to her, to breaking her heart like her mother had.  She had never grown close to anyone because if they walked away or died, it wouldn't hurt like when her mother had abandoned her.  And now her mother was dead, her grandparents and Philip, all gone.  Would she end her life like Jeanne Dubois, a recluse?" 

Well, you'll have to wait till the book is released to find out what happens to her.  :-)

Keep writing and reading.  Work hard on making your characters real, gritty, soft, tender... whatever they have to be to make your readers love them or hate them.  There is no middle of the road.

I'll be back when I hear from the publisher... I hope.  In the meantime, I'm working on the sequel to "She's Not You," a new Oyster Point Mystery!

Till, Judi



  

New interview...

https://www.thescribe.space/blog/childrens-fiction-to-thriller-s-with-judi-getch-brodman

A new blog interview with Mark Iles!  His site is called "The Scribe: UK Veterans Writing Group.  Thanks Mark... nice job as usual.

I've been diverted to other stuff lately, but am returning to my editing.  Want to submit my current manuscript in a week or so.

I'll be back.  Keep writing,
Till,
Judi

The final editing push...

Well, here I am, editing away.  I actually enjoy this part of authoring... I like to smooth out my writing, change words around, and remove words that fog up the thought.  It's a challenge for sure, but in the end, it you pass a pretty clean manuscript into the editor, it's satisfying.

I’ve had a busy few weeks with other things going on – my sister is visiting and that’s always fun, had an art show to put together – all fun but time consuming.  So April is my target for finishing up the editing on this manuscript.

I’ve made a first pass through cutting out maybe 3,000 words and am on the second round now.  It’s not unusual for me to go through my writing maybe four or five times.  I’m a type-A person and it shows when I’m writing, but pays off when the editing cycle by the publisher is shorter.

The one thing that I look for are repeated words.  We all have those very special words that show up ALL the time – my favorites are “just” and “only.”  I also have a habit of placing words in awkward places.  You find these by reading your work out loud.  You can also (another favorite word of mine) find places where the action can tell the story better than you describing the scene.  I know, many things to remember and even more to look for as you edit.

One of the breaks I took yesterday was to visit the Downton Abbey Exhibit.  Now if you love that series and love that era, go and visit it if it comes to a city near you.  As I walked through each room/set, I could envision an entire new story in my head… my writing juices were going as I took photos and notes.  It was like being in that time and place… hearing the pots and pans in the kitchen, smelling cinnamon from cookies baking… nothing like it.  With a bit more research, an entire new story might emerge. J

Between all my activities and editing tasks, I’ve also done some work on the sequel to “She’s Not You,” the Oyster Point Mystery series.  It’s coming along and I’m finding Jamie and Jack becoming involved in an entirely new set of situations that I never envisioned in the first mystery.  You will encounter Lizz and Mike – will those old loves be too much for Jack and Jamie’s relationship?  And of course we have two new cold cases that Jamie is already knee deep in.

Well, back to my editing.  I hope that you are writing something… a journal, a short story, the great American novel.

Oh, and I also received a copy of my cable channel interview I did in December.  As soon as I receive a link from the station, I’ll post it!

Till,

Judi

My very dear Irish friend...

Well, my friend, the truth be told, isn't really Irish but married an Irishman (half English) and moved to Ireland.  We have been friends for many many years.  We met at a conference years ago... we were both speaking.  We continued to bump into each other at conferences all over the world.  Her husband, also "one of us" in the Process Improvement field,  appeared as well.  They hit it off and before I knew it, she was deciding if she could possibly live in Ireland.  Obviously, she decided yes.  

Now, many years later, retired, having assimilated very nicely into her Irish way of life, she writes to me of ways and things I find both beautiful and sometimes hard to imagine.  Her life is so different... quiet and slower.  They take time to enjoy.  She writes beautifully and entertains me with her stories.  

Her latest is a story of a tree... a tree made by many in her church,a small one in her town.  Let me go back a bit... there's history of trees being part of Christmas at her church.  Everyone tries to decorate a tree differently - mostly with homemade ornaments.  They sell them to raise money for the church maintenance.  But this year my friend undertook a project that she had seen in a magazine... a tree that had been made of cardboard and then covered with quilting squares of felt and heavy materials.   It was definitely a labor of love as she described putting it all together.  Below is the result - a magnificent Christmas tree.

But when Christmas was over, where did it go?  Here's what she said, 
"Due to the hard work of one of our friends in asking around, the Day Care Centre here said they would take the tree. I had told people if nobody would take it, I would have to tear it apart and we would have to find a use for all those squares (353 at final count) and ornaments (82). I got it all ready for the DCC to take it away in the mini-bus and when I checked in a few days later, it had turned into a ‘Tree for All Seasons’ and was being put up in a corner of the sitting room, to be decorated appropriately for holidays and seasons."  And here it stands, ready for Valentine's Day!!

They had matched the colors and the pieces and added ornaments and small toys.  The people (mostly elderly in need of some help) at the Day Care Center enjoy it every day.  It is being readied for Saint Patrick's Day, of course :-)

I loved her story for a number of reasons - it's a story of people working together to create something quite unique that lives on.  Not only does it live on, but people continue to enjoy, love and decorate it.  

It's like writing a book... scene by scene, character by character, chapter by chapter until finally after fitting all the pieces together, there is stands!  Your masterpiece, made of squares upon squares, with ornaments and hearts, is ready to go forth and be enjoyed by many.

Keep writing.  I'm editing my Paris mystery... still fighting to find a good title!

Till,
Judi

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I hope you have a fantastic day... I'm planning on a little editing of the back blurb for my upcoming book, coffee... lots of coffee, and a date with my guy!!

I'll be back soon to talk writing.

Happy Valentine's Day... Judi