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Yesterday, the Plot Thickened

Yesterday, the Plot Thickened

by | Jan 29, 2025 | Mystery Update, South Dakota, West River Mystery Series

Yesterday the plot thickened.

You may be asking yourself how can that be? Just last week, Jolene revealed the See Jane Ride! cover and said the manuscript was now in the concept editor’s hands for review. Does that mean the editor wants a total plot revision? Say it ain’t so!

Rest easy readers. It ain’t so.

The plot being referred to in this post’s title is for the yet-to-be-written sixth book in the West River Mystery series. To stay on track for its release in October of 2026, my handful of notecards about a mystery that takes place during prairie fire season needed a lot of thickening. That handful of cards was also intended to contribute to the overall arc of series and its overarching mystery. That needed some thickening too.

Yesterday afternoon’s plot workshop with Midwestern Book’s concept editor and I was thick enough to accomplish both aims.

I’m not gonna lie. It was a brutal afternoon. Mainly because the concept editor kept asking hard questions like:

  • Why would such-and-such a character do that?
  • What possible reason could there be for Velma to stay overnight this time?
  • Is that concern big enough for Jane’s mom to get her underwear in a bunch?
  • How will Jane’s students contribute to solving the mystery?
  • What spiritual growth will Jane experience?
  • What’s the community event that gathers the town together?
  • What about Dick and Jane?

My initial answers to such unreasonable questions were:

  • I haven’t thought that through yet. I just thought it would be funny.
  • I’m not sure yet, but Dick is going to agree with Velma.
  • Everything gets her Mom’s underwear in a bunch.
  • Still working on that, but they will.
  • Still working on that, but she will.
  • I assumed coming together to fight prairie fires was a community event.
  • What about them?

To which my diabolical editor replied:

  • Think harder.
  • Let’s brainstorm until we figure it out.
  • True, but be more specific.
  • We’re not moving on until you come up with something.
  • Ditto.
  • Wrong assumption.
  • Time to brainstorm again.

Thanks to the editor’s uncanny ability to spot plot holes and not move on until they were plugged, we worked on thickening the plot for almost 4 hours.* The picture at the top of the page shows that by the end of the 4 hours, my handful of notecards had expanded to almost 50 and categorized into 5 “acts.” The feat is actually more impressive considering the number of cards we torn up and rewrote. They’re the messy pile visible in the bottom middle of the table.

At that point the diabolical editor abandoned me, citing a flimsy excuse. Something about frosting a birthday cake for her daughter who turned 7 yesterday. After she left I used the calendars ,also visible on the table, to fit the plot into a three week mid-September 1978 through early October 1978 timeline. Then I stacked and rubber banded the cards for each act in chronological order and then banded the acts together into one thick and beautiful plot outline.

Oh, the burden the brutal workshop afternoon lifted from my shoulders!
Oh, the joy!
Oh, the freedom!
Oh, to begin writing the first draft of Book 6** and doing research to keep the story historically accurate!

All this because yesterday, the plot thickened.

*Minus 1 potty break per person and 1 session each at the espresso machine.
**The name of the next See Jane book will be announced in a few months.

Midwestern Books Lost Its Renaissance Man

Midwestern Books Lost Its Renaissance Man

by | Jan 7, 2025 | Book Updates, See Jane Run!, West River Mystery Series

Midwestern Books lost its renaissance man and founder, Tom Walker, this past December. Tom succumbed to pancreatic cancer just two months after his diagnosis. Those who knew and loved him––his wife Kris, his three children, his eight grandchildren, his siblings, his nieces and nephews, and many more––are still reeling.

Our family was among those who attended his funeral. Tom’s brother-in-law gave the eulogy and described him as a renaissance man, a person who is educated and knowledgeable in a number of fields. That was certainly true of Tom. He assembled his own computer when they were just coming onto the scene. He was a musician, an athlete, a theologian, a pastor, and an avid fisherman. He operated a sawmill, constructed several buildings, read widely, was an IT director, and founded a publishing company. He was a lover of books, and was both a reader and a = writer.

He wrote sermons, seminary curriculum, and computer code. He created elaborate Dungeons and Dragons back stories in his role as a Dungeon Master. He helped his parents write books about their lives and wrote children’s books for his grandkids. When he retired, he started Midwestern Books to showcase writers who represented the values and stories from a poorly represented area of the United States. See Jane Run! was the first manuscript he acquired.

Tom was more than the renaissance man who published The West River Mystery Series. He was also my husband’s cousin and an appreciator of my daughter’s editorial talents. To that end, he asked her to become his partner at Midwestern Books. She accepted and they worked closely together for five years. After his cancer diagnosis, he signed the business over to her at no cost.

Midwestern Books lost its renaissance man and founder. In the midst of our grief, Anne and her husband, as well as Hiram and I, are aware of the opportunity he created for our daughter’s family before he died. Our hearts testify that Tom Walker exemplified more than a renaissance man. He exemplified Christ. We were blessed to know him and grateful beyond words.

In loving memory of Thomas “Tom” Hayes Walker,
November 7, 1953 – December 22, 2024