by jphilo | Aug 8, 2016 | Mystery Update
Poor Jane. Poor patient Jane. The protagonist of my South Dakota mystery novel has suffered a setback. She was turned down by editors in the nice, cozy publishing houses I had hoped would give her a good home.
Now, there’s no need to worry.
Jane is not dead or abandoned. She’s just waiting quietly for her creator to complete another edit of the book. Yes, you read that right. Another edit. This time to ratchet the suspense level up a notch. Something one of the publishers suggested that was confirmed when a writer friend read the book and offered similar feedback. When two writing experts give similar feedback independent from one another, an author is well-advised to sit up and pay attention.
So I did.
During the week at Idaho family camp, I spent several afternoons revising and was almost certain that at this rate, the rewrite would be done by the end of July. Then I arrived home to the aftermath of almost two months of travel.
Laundry.
Groceries to purchase.
Piles of mail.
Mom’s finances.
Our finances.
Emails to return.
Preparations for speaking engagements.
Flowerbeds to weed.
Yada, yada, yada.
By last weekend, I was finally caught up. Confidently, I wrote “work on mystery revision” in the afternoon slot in my planner for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I spent several hours revising on Monday. I was pumped and sashayed around the house that night, absolutely sure that by the end of the week, the revision would pass the halfway mark.
But then.
News came that the funeral of the mother of a dear friend would be Wednesday morning, 2 1/2 hours away. The Man of Steel had to work, but we both agreed that I should attend. Which meant in addition to visiting Mom on Tuesday and a speaking engagement on Thursday afternoon, two breaks already factored in, I would also be gone Wednesday.
But, I told myself, Friday was still intact.
Until something possessed me to pick up 10 dozen ears of sweet corn and spent Friday afternoon processing and freezing 30+ quarts of sweet, golden goodness. Poor, patient Jane uttered no objections. She may live in South Dakota, but she grew up in Iowa and understands the importance of having sweet corn stashed in the freezer to be eaten on dark, frigid January nights.
But I feel guilty. Oh, so guilty.
I’m not sure I can open the latest revision and look Jane in the eye. She’s been such a good friend. Never complaining. Never manipulating. Never snitching sweet corn. Even nodding approvingly when she heard about the plan to attend the funeral. Then she settled back to wait.
And wait. And wait.
This week, my planner has four afternoon appointments scheduled with Jane. I’ll be accepting no phone calls, gathering no vegetables, avoiding social media, and taking no prisoners. All for the love of Jane.
Poor, patient Jane.
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by jphilo | Apr 8, 2016 | Out and About
Next week, I’m flying to McLean Bible Church’s Accessibility Summit. That upcoming event combined with mystery novel that’s my current work in progress makes this post from 2011 quite timely five years later. Before you read, you should know that the protagonist of the new series wears sensible shoes and underwear, contains her cellulite, and has absolutely no accent. At least not where I come from.
It Worked for Mrs. Pollifax
I am in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia (just outside Washington DC) for the Accessibility Summit at McLean Bible Church. To be accurate, the Summit begins later today, and I’m hanging out in the hotel business area because a new heater and AC unit is being installed in my room. My theory is that the CIA has hidden cameras in all hotel rooms in these parts, so they decoded my mutterings when the noisy heater woke me repeatedly in the night. Who says our government isn’t responsive?
The longer I sit here and people watch, the more glaringly apparent it becomes that I’m not in Kansas (yes, I live in Iowa, but please work with me) any more. Even though I read plenty of David Baldacci thrillers, Lisa Scottoline legal mysteries, Mrs. Pollifax CIA romps, and other fiction set on the East Coast to prepare me for this culture shock, it didn’t work. This midwestern gal is jaw-droppingly agog at the accents (this morning’s mix included British, Australian, Jersey, New York, and perhaps German), not to mention the fashion show that began in the Chicago airport yesterday and shows no sign of ending any time soon.
The most noticeable fashion statement thus far is the knee high, calf-hugging boots with three inch heels. Sported mostly by younger women who don’t yet realize “Bunion Builders” is the CIA code name for these boots, they look – well – really expensive, uncomfortable, and positively anti-midwestern.
The second most noticeable statement has been skin tight leggings, sometimes worn with bunion builders, sometimes under baggy, flowing shirts, and sometimes with short shirts and presumably thong underwear since no one had unsightly pantie lines. Apparently, fat jiggles are not considered unsightly in this neck of the woods. This is also anti-midwestern. In that part of the country, there are more fat jiggles per capita, but their owners tend to keep them well hidden.
I’m coping with the culture shock as well as can be expected. So far, I’ve resisted the infrequent urges to buy a pair of bunion builders, squeeze into leggings, or purchase thong underwear. Quite a feat of self-control for this midwestern, former school teacher who holds the door open for strangers, wears flat shoes and khaki pants, and knows better than to hug a Lutheran.
Just to be on the safe side, I’m making a list of anyone who looks like they work for the CIA, starting with the guys installing the heater in my hotel room. Once I get back home, I’ll mail it to the agency with an instructive note about how to make their spies blend in a little better, possibly by hiring midwestern women with sensible shoes, contained cellulite, sensible underwear, and absolutely no accent.
It worked for Mrs. Pollifax.
It could work for me.
Ya, shure, you betcha!
by jphilo | Mar 15, 2016 | Mystery Update, Top Ten Tuesday
The wait for news from publishers about the fate of the mystery novel See Jane Run! continues. Pretty typical in the book world, so instead of checking email 10 times a day, I’m plowing ahead with the second book in the series, See Jane Sing! Since the last update on that book’s progress, I’ve written her out of the snowdrift, where her cherry red VW bug was stuck fast during her return trip from Thanksgiving with her family in Iowa. I am quickly discovering the challenges of writing mystery novel sequel snowstorm scenes. Here are ten of them.
10. Creating a recap of the previous book that gives new readers enough information to read the second book in the series and is so captivating, they are compelled to purchase the first book in the series.
9. Perfecting the timing so the driver has gone too far down a desolate, gravel road to turn back when the snowstorm hits while leaving enough miles and time for the formation of a large snowdrift, so the beaching of a VW Beetle to seem plausible.
8. Describing how to substitute an empty orange juice can for bathroom facilities when snowbound without providing TMI.
7. Unearthing a variety of verbs for walking through deep snow. As in wading, plowing, plodding, etc. (Your suggestions welcome in the comment box.)
6. Finding verbs for putting on winter gear. As more ways to describe donning gloves, hats, boots, coats. (Once again, your suggestions are welcome!)
5. Cooking a variety of turkey leftover dishes popular 30 years ago. (Yup, your suggestions are coveted.)
4. Deciding what mistakes to fix and what changes to make immediately and which ones to leave until the second draft.
3. Writing dialogue when the character who rescues Jane and her snowbound car hardly says a word.
2. Conveying the joy an elementary teacher feels when she returns to school after vacation and can once again enter the world of childhood with her students.
1. Keeping from getting in the car and heading west when writing about a tiny, fictional, South Dakota town makes a writer homesick for the place where she once lived.
by jphilo | Jan 11, 2016 | Mystery Update
January’s cold. Frigid even. So I thought an update on the status of the mystery novel See Jane Run! might cheer folks up. Before writing this, I checked to see when the the last update was posted and was shocked to discover it was September 21…just a few weeks before day of my fateful kitchen accident that left me one-handed for 3 months.
But because I’m as hearty as Jane, the heroine of the novel, I used the hunt and peck method to complete the book proposal and send it off to my agent. The couple of weeks I thought we would spend polishing it turned into months (the hunt and peck method does that to a person), and by mid-December my agent said it was ready to send to publishers.
She sent the proposal to 2 publishers before Christmas, and my best guess is that both copies spent the holidays stacked on the editors’ desks, looking on glumly while those in charge of their fate sipped eggnog and gathered round the Christmas tree to open presents. My agent agrees with the scenario and assures me that with the northern half of the northern hemisphere in the deep freeze, those editors are now curled up by roaring fires, sipping hot chocolate, and reading my proposal.* This week she’s also sending the proposal to another publisher, a long shot, but as she said, “We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”**
The other big news about the novel is that after 3 months, 4 departments, and 2 answers to questions I didn’t ask, the publisher who holds the copyrights for the old Dick and Jane reading series finally sent an answer to the question I did ask. Which was this: Does using A Fun with Dick and Jane Mystery as the title of the series and See Jane Run! as the title for the first book break any copyright laws?
Their answer was yes. It does. No big deal now, but my agent and I will soon have a brainstorming session about new titles for the series and the novel. If you have any suggestions, leave them in the comment box. They would be most welcome.
That’s it. That’s all. As soon as we hear something, I’ll let you know. Which I hope is soon. Because I hate to think of the book proposal languishing on the editors’ desks until mid-February or beyond, watching glumly while those in charge of its fate open Valentine’s Day cards and work their way through a box of chocolates.***
My baby novel deserves better than that.
*Those were not her exact words, but she did say editors go back to work with renewed vigor after the holidays.
**Those were her exact words.
***Those are my words, not my agent’s.
by jphilo | Sep 21, 2015 | Mystery Update
In what may be a first at Down the Gravel Road, this mystery novel update comes less than a month after the previous one. Hard to believe, isn’t it? How can a writer, especially one who’s been hacking away at this manuscript for 2 1/2 years, make enough progress in one short month to warrant another update?
All I can say is that motivation makes a difference.
In this case, the motivation was a visit from my daughter over Labor Day. The same daughter who gave the marvelous feedback mentioned in the previous update. The daughter who I hoped would have time to reread the manuscript with the revisions she suggested. While I watched her baby.
Getting my hands on him was extra motivation.
Motivation worked. The rewrite was ready for her, she got it read, offered a little more feedback and then said, “You got it. It’s done. You should send it to your agent. And let Dad read it, too.”
I sent it my agent last week.
And am waiting on pins and needles to hear what she has to say. Since she’s mother to 3 young daughters, I’m doing my best to cultivate self-restraint and resist the hourly urge to email her and ask, “Are you done yet? Whaddya think? Did you like it? Huh? Huh? Huh?”
The Man of Steel loaded a copy onto his iPad, too.
He finished it in a week. Not an easy feat for someone who doesn’t like to read very much. Because he tends to fall asleep when he reads. But this book kept him awake. He really liked it and gave some good feedback.
To celebrate, I printed out a hard copy and am proofreading all 315 pages.
And making minor changes based on the Man of Steel’s suggestions. Partly out of desire to make my manuscript the best it can be. Partly because burying myself in the novel keeps me from emailing my agent and asking,
“Are you done yet? Whatddya think? Do you like it? Huh? Huh? Huh?”
