Another Story in the Works

If you’re a writer, you know the unusual ways stories can present themselves. Sometimes it’s with an incident that stimulates creative speculation. Sometimes it’s a need to illustrate some aspect of society in fictional form. And sometimes it’s when a character becomes like a real person in our lives. The latter is what happens to me most often, and it did big time when I wrote One Small Victory.

After reading a small newspaper article about a woman who helped bring down a major drug supplier in her small Texas town, Jenny Jasik presented herself as a full-blown character, name and all. Poof! There she was, and her voice drove the story from beginning to end. It was such a creative thrill to have that happen.

Recently, my publisher asked if I was considering writing another book in the series, and at first I wasn’t sure. One Perfect Love is a sequel to that first book, and part of me thought that the series was over. Still, I asked the publisher to give me a little bit of time to think about it, and I went back to read part of both books to see if that magic between me and Jenny would happen again.

It did.

So now, even though another book was not in my plans, I’m currently working on another novella featuring Jenny and her husband Steve who is a detective in the small Police department in the fictional town of Little Oaks, Texas.

Thankfully, the publisher was okay with the idea of this not being a full-length novel. After finishing my last one that took two and a half years to write, I’d decided that I simply couldn’t handle full-length fiction any more because of my limitations. Even though my brain has not been severely affected by the atypical trigeminal neuralgia, there are problems that impact the ability to crank out several thousand words a day like I could years ago. Sometimes I can make it to a thousand, but lots of days I have to be satisfied with a few hundred at a time.

While the writing is going well so far – slow but steady wins the race – I have no title for the story right now. It’s hard to write a book that doesn’t have a title. I know lots of authors start with an untitled manuscript, but that doesn’t work well for me. I liken it to raising a child without a name.

It would be nice if Jenny would tell me what she wants this story to be called. She did for the first book and the second was easy since it was a romance and One Perfect Love fit it perfectly. Starting the new title with the word “one” is important as a series identifier, but so far nothing is coming for the rest of it. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

In other bookish news.

There’s another Booksweeps Giveaway that I’m sponsoring with 40 other crime and thriller authors. Two winners can win a great collection of 40 Crime Fiction & Thrillers, and the Grand Prize winner gets a BRAND NEW eReader!

A $450 value.

By entering, you have a chance to win a copy of Brutal Season, the fourth installment in the Seasons Mystery Series, as well as books from some of my favorite authors who write crime fiction, like Stephen Puleston, E.J. Simon, and N.L Hinkens.

The contest starts today, May 22 and runs thru May 31, and you can enter often by following the authors sponsoring the giveaway. Enter by clicking here 👉 https://www.booksweeps.com/giveaway/may23-win-a-bundle-of-crime-fiction-thrillers/

Good luck!

That’s all for me for today folks. I do hope your week is off to a good start. I plan to get a bit of writing done between two medical appointments today, but tomorrow’s calendar is clear until late afternoon. That will be a good day for writing.