Well, I know I've been gone for a bit :-) but I have a very good reason - I worked on finishing my latest book, the second Oyster Point Mystery, "Treat Me Nice". I had written about two thirds of it and came to a halt not knowing where to go with it... so as I always do, I switched to writing "Tales of the Silent". That manuscript moved quickly - I loved the story, the characters and the location, my favorite spot, Chinon France. I also loved a time travel part which takes the main female character back to the 11th century. So before I knew it, my publisher accepted it, I worked with my editor and it was released last August!
So then, I still had "Treat Me Nice" sitting there, staring at me.
I'd been away from it so long, I had to reread it. It was pretty good as far as I had gone, but where did I go from here? What I had forgotten was how dogged Jamie was... she would jump right in the middle of these cases and never look back... and so she led me through the rest of the book. I think this new book ups the relationship between Jack and Jamie as well as reintroducing Jamie's ex-boyfriend and Jack's ex-girlfriend. They are both a danger to the relationship that Jack and Jamie had so carefully built. I also brought in two FBI agents, Kat and Clyde, who played really well off of Jack and Jamie.
Finally after much editing, I turned it into my publisher, they accepted it and I'm waiting for the editor to return with the first pass comments.
So in about another month to six weeks it should be out -- a great summer read!!
Now I'm returning to rewrite, well actually tell the entire story that I started in "Broken Christmas Promise", an eBook that the publisher asked me to write a few years ago right before Christmas. I actually received some great feedback on it which led me to the task at hand, writing Brett and Jenna's entire story. A screenwriter and producer read it and sent me the following feedback:
"BROKEN
CHRISTMAS PROMISE: The setup here is great – a woman running into an ex that
basically ghosted her in a high-pressure meeting puts these love interests on
interesting footing right from the start. But it doesn’t seem like this shorter
novella develops the concept far beyond that, nor does it seem to give us the
kind of complex and layered romance that the modern market demands."
I rewrote it, sent it to a friend who is also a published author, for a beta read. She provided some very good feedback and so I'm buried in thought and words and plots for this next book.
It never gets old and it's always exciting to create characters and places that readers love!
So, that's what I've been up to besides living life and making memories! I hope you are too... life is short!
Till,
Judi
