Walking Tour of Charleston, SC

My next book, "Gold Wings are Murder--The Ghost Light," is set in historic Charleston, SC. Here is a taste of that Big Sweetgrass Basket.

And here is a great link for things to do while you're there. 

New Book Trailer for "Gold Wings are Murder"

This commercial book trailer is a hoot! Turn your speakers on and check it out.

"Gold Wings are Murder" First Draft Complete

I'm thinking Mark Twain would be a GL1800 trike kind of guy.

Mark Twain would be so proud--I just finished the first draft of "Gold Wings are Murder: The Crying Stone." Parts are funny. Parts of scary. Other parts are emotionally intense. It features a middle aged couple touring our great land on a GL1800 with a Tailwind trailer. What could be better than that?

So, now the edits begin. For those of you who like writing trivia, I'm using the editing system proposed by Rachel Aaron in "2K to 10K: Writing Faster, Writing Better and Writing More of What You Love." She suggested going through the book and doing your grammar corrections, but also outlining it, doing a time line to look for story problems, and using a ToDo list so you don't miss anything and can get your edits done with little fuss or extra effort.

Aaron also writes fantasy so, if you like murder mysteries AND fantasy (like me), check her out. As for my story, look for it some time in June, July at the latest.

GWAM Mystery Novel Almost Done

My first mystery novel, Gold Wings are Murder, is almost done. I'm working on the final chapters this week. This is the first draft, but my writing process is to do a read through and light edit of yesterday's work, before starting on todays writing. So, it doesn't take me as long to finalize a rough drafts as some folks. It looks like this story will run about 35,000 words. That's shorter than some mystery novels, but actually a pretty good length for a first mystery intended for sale as a Kindle ebook.

If you want to be among the first to know when this book drops, look for the Follow by Email box and type in your email address. That way you'll know about it just as soon as the book goes live. Until then, keep your eyes up, stay safe and enjoy the ride.

I'm actually writing this on a 10-year old iMac using Chrome and Google Docs. 

Gold Wings are Murder OPENING

Just to keep things interesting, here is a bit from the opening of "Gold Wings are Murder: The Crying Stone."

.....-----.....-----.....

Tiny Sorcha Rhyne sat bolt upright in the darkness. "Who's there?" 
No one, whispered the darkness.

"I see you there. Come out."

No one stood by the door, back in the corner, behind the dresser. No one stared. No one cried softly.

Sorcha glanced down at her husband, Django. He was beautiful, but he was sound asleep. Sorcha swung her gaze to the darkness in the corner. The darkness stared back, but didn't move. "Django, wake up!" Without looking, she shoved his shoulder, hard! She put her hand in his wavy hair and tugged. A fierce whisper, "Honey, there's someone in our room!" Django didn't move. 

The someone coalesce into a lighter shade of darkness. It came toward her. One step. Two steps out of the corner.

Sorcha drew back against the headboard, pulling the sheets up over her breasts. She reached toward the nightstand--hoping to find a weapon. Something!

When the hallway door opened, Sorcha jumped a foot.

The shape slipped out of an impossibly thin opening and disappeared into the hallway. 

"Don't you go out there," she said to herself. "Don't you dare." She looked at Django. Still asleep. What was wrong with him? Why wouldn't he wake up for her? She couldn't wait to figure it out. Whoever had been in their room was slipping away. What if he, she or it went into some other guest's room?

Before she could stop herself, she swung her feet over the edge of the bed and slipped down onto the floor. Her slippers were waiting, pointed out to keep little demon's from finding their way into her bed. She grabbed a nightgown off the bottom post of the four poster bed and crept to the door.

.....-----.....-----.....

 
You know, this stuff is even more fun sitting around a campfire while someone reads this story to you aloud. (Insert evil laughter.)

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