Happy Valentine’s Day to you all! I thought I’d give you a little sneak peek into Case Two and since it’s a day for romance, here’s a declaration of love. This scene has not gone through the entire editing process yet, so it may change between now and the publication date. I’m pretty sure there aren’t any major spoilers here, either. Enjoy! ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥         ♥          ♥         ♥          ♥         ♥          ♥         ♥          ♥         ♥ Darcy’s plane ticket arrived at six and she was in a cab by six thirty. On the way to the airport, her cab was pulled over by a cruiser. Curious, she thought. She’d never seen a cab pulled over before. She turned around and saw Fraser stepping out of [...]

Chapter One is here: Chapter One   In this chapter, we meet George and see what kind of trouble he’s in.   Enjoy!   Chapter Two   George Wynton was running late. He was perpetually late, but this was the most important night of his life and he didn’t want to miss a moment of it. He waved a fifty at the cabbie. “An extra tip if you can get me there by seven.” “I’ll do my best, sir, but it will be close.” He sat back in the cab, closed his eyes, and imagined how his night would go. Her husband was gone. Texas, she said, and they would have the entire night together. Until now she had only [...]

I had a blast this past weekend at the Writers’ Police Academy. Classes were held at the Guilford Technical Community College, in Jamestown, NC. I’m trying to figure out how to write a balanced report, talking about the good and the bad, but I can’t come up with any bad. I flew to Raleigh-Durham Airport and drove to Greensboro, NC. My biggest goal for the flight was to get through security without any incident, which I did. I was nervous because the last time I flew was 1997 and believe me, everything has changed about flying since then. I met my friend Alex Hughes and we headed out to lunch and a local farmer’s market for snack foods. I bought [...]

Enjoy the first chapter of The Shattered Door – available online and in paperback on September 28th.

Wordle picture of my upcoming novel.

Completed drafts make me happy and a quick book recommendation.

I’m many days late,  I’ve been trying to finish up an editing job before November. Here is the first take of my plot done up in the 7 point system. I wrote them up in the order I listed in the previous post, but I’m typing them up here in the order they’ll come in the novel to make sure they make sense to me. I don’t think I need an Ice Monster Prologue, but I haven’t decided which will be my first scene yet.   Main Ghost haunting plot Protagonist: Kate Antagonist: Ghost of Myra’s ancestor, who died in the building   Hook: The ghost is angry because Kate and Myra are arguing Plot Turn 1: The ghost vandalizes [...]

Plotting a novel using Dan Wells’ 7 Point System

Plotting a novel with the Five Movement Structure

In the writing world, it can seem like there are two camps: Plotters and Pantsers. I’ve done both and they each have merit.    A plotter is, well, someone who plots her novel before she starts writing it. Beginning, middle and end are all known. Characters, motivations, even scenes, all known beforehand. I find it faster to write with an outline and since speed is of the essence in November, I at least start out with an outline. Pantsers write by the seat of their pants – there’s a variety of levels of “pantsness” – some people know a character or two, some know their situation, some know nothing at all. It’s an exciting way to write – every day [...]