What an excellent question! For those who are interested in the progress of my Fun with Dick and Jane mystery series, the answer to that question is long overdue. In fact, the last report was in January, almost 2 months ago–but who’s counting–in which I reported being back in the riding saddle again. I have not fallen out of the saddle. For the past nine Friday afternoons–now look who’s counting–my to do list has been limited to one item: work on mystery novel.

And I have.

The first draft of the novel now sits at 38,500 words and is about 2/3 complete. At the end of this afternoon’s Friday session, the word count could top 40,000. Of course, more words written = more ideas for revising what’s been written.

And I have plenty of those ideas.

The protagonist needs to become less whiny and more sensitive. The crank phones and the switchboard operator, both replaced a year before we moved to the real Harding County upon which the fictional Tipperary County is based, need to become part of the story. More people suspects need to enter the mix. Some chapters have to be moved. Several must be rewritten.

And I have to give a few scenes the axe.

Hard to do to my precious babies. Almost as hard as waiting until the entire first draft is completed before going back to fix what’s already written. But not nearly as hard as writing new scenes and chapters and dialogues.

And I have plenty left to write.

So far Jane, the protagonist, has driven her VW bug down countless miles of gravel roads, and she’s ridden with cowboys in pick up trucks. She’s made it through her first month as a country school teacher and gotten her first grown-up-job pay check. She’s kissed a rancher named Rick, charmed another one named Rich, cleaned up vomit, and found bulls in the playground. She keeps a spade handy in case a rattlesnake makes an appearance.

And I have barely scratched the surface of life where Jane lives.

Which means that once the first draft is done and the revisions are completed and a book proposal gets written and my agent starts schlepping it to publishers, plenty of good stuff will remain for a second book of fun with Dick and Jane.

And I have no doubt I’ll be back in the saddle again.

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