My new novel, Treat Me Nice, has just been released! Can you believe it's my seventh novel? And to tell you the truth, it's still so very exciting. The reviews have been awesome. I think this novel filled in the characters of Jack and Jamie more and to make it even more interesting, I brought back Jack's old girlfriend Lizz and Jamie's old boyfriend Mike. Mike becomes an interesting character and will definitely show up in the next Oyster Point Mystery. I've found that character development goes hand-in-hand with plot. It becomes a balance between the two... coated with the setting. Anyway, if you're looking for a good romantic mystery, Treat Me Nice (another Elvis song title), could be a great beach read this summer. You can find it on Amazon: https://mybook.to/Treat-Me-Nice.
On to my next project - publisher asked for "an over-fifty romance" so that's what I'm working on currently. I've never written one so this is a very interesting side-journey for me. A writer friend told me that she only writes over-fifty romances so obviously there's a market for them. I'm finding that you need to provide a lot of back story in this type of book. And how big a "bag of rocks" does the main character or the next semi-main character bring to the story? This allows you to develop the story... divorced, widowed, still married, children... etc. Anyway, a new journey for me and I'm enjoying it. I feel that I'm writing a script for a Hallmark movie!
Once I've submitted the over-fifty manuscript, I'll return to the rewrite of Broken Christmas Promise. If you remember, I received great feedback on that one from producers, but their comment was that it was too short for today's romances... so I'm working on bringing in subplots and other characters.
What have I learned so far on this writing journey?
First, writing a piece that's good enough for a publisher/agent to accept is tough work. I've written and published a lot of technical papers but transitioning to creative writing is not easy. I have to continually remind myself not to write in passive voice. I taken creative writing classes, been part of excellent writers' groups, taken an on-line workshop with a well-known author I admired. Her class changed the way I write, develop characters and place them in a setting.
The second thing I've learned is character development, plot and setting are equally important. Because I'm also a professional artists, I love painting pictures of the setting in words. But too much can make the reader restless to move on, so I try to mix description and dialogue as well.
Speaking of dialogue, again, too much or too mundane can cause the reader to skip lines or tire of the mundane. Dialogue needs to move the story forward not just fill up the page.
I've also found out that I love writing time travel mysteries... actually I just love writing, creating characters that come to life on the pages, speak to you, make you cry when you place them in certain situations or make you smile, and nod knowing you've been there.
As I make progress through this "over-fifty" romance, I'll let you know how it's going.
Best and keep writing, and write me with questions or comments. I enjoy hearing from you.
Judi
