Author’s Blog Chain

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 What are you currently working on?

Co-author Barbara Burgess and I recently completed our third cozy mystery, Best Left Buried.  This book deals with the adventures of Darcy Campbell and her mother, Flora Tucker. The setting is small town Levi, Oklahoma in modern times.   Best Left Buried is under contract to Pen-L Publishing. The release date will be some time within the next twelve months. Barbara’s and my first two cozies with the same protagonists are The Cemetery Club and Grave Shift, available at Amazon.com.

I am working on a completely different cozy mystery with different protagonists and different small town, although the setting is still Oklahoma. The title of this work in progress is Moonlight Can Be Murder.

For many years, I have written on assignment for Union Gospel Press. They sent a new assignment a few days ago and I will begin work on it shortly. These Bible lessons, written for children, always bless me as I write.

In addition, I have a daily blog,  blanchedaymanos.com. My son Matt, who is a computer whiz, built my website a couple of years ago. You can find out more about my writing background as well as the daily blog at this site.

Cozies are mysteries but they are gentle mysteries. Usually, the murders (and there are murders) happen off-stage. My writing does not contain vulgarity, neither does it have profanity nor explicit sex scenes. I write the kind of story I wouldn’t mind my mother or my granddaughter reading. However, the mysteries I write are not so cozy as to be like a lullaby. Several fans have told me they couldn’t put either book down once they started reading. They definitely are not bedtime stories. I write in scenes, with a beginning, middle, and ending for each scene. The end of each chapter or scene has something in it that makes the reader want to read the next chapter, to find out “whodunnit”.

Too many books and movies are explicit and focus on the rough side of life. I want my books to leave the reader with a warm feeling of getting to know the main characters, feeling empathy with them, and being satisfied with the ending.  In other words, I’d like for the reader to feel that the main characters are friends. My goal is to cause the reader to want to read more about the characters. In real life, happy endings are not guaranteed. In my stories, the bad guys always lose, the good guys always win, and right triumphs over evil. Many people would not think about a mystery pointing others to Jesus but my lead characters are Christians and their faith is an everyday part of living. The stories are interspersed with biblical references or truths. Writing is more than what I do. Writing is who I am. Before the age of computers, I wrote with a pen on notebook paper and I typed on a typewriter, not a word processor. Is writing as important as eating and sleeping? Well–almost!

Before I write my blog each day, I ask God to give me the topic and the words. Sometimes the blog post is about writing. Other times, it is an observation, a concern, or something that encourages me and I hope will encourage others. My books are written in the same way. First, I want what I write to be pleasing to the Lord, and I want it to bring enjoyment and a respite from reality for those who read.

I start each book with the germ of an idea. I know what the mystery will be and how my protagonist will resolve it. My heroine is a sympathetic, down to earth person with problems of her own; however, there she is in the middle of a murder, completely innocent of any wrong-doing but determined to solve the mystery and bring the perpetrator to justice. Then, I add characters who are essential to the telling of the tale. I write, re-write, cut out excess verbage (sometimes I feel like a surgeon), read some more, polish, and then stop. At some point, I must consider my book finished and leave it alone! In my current work in progress, Moonlight Can Be Murder, the heroine comes to small town Edna, Oklahoma, to visit her aging uncle in his Victorian house. Alas, instead of a happy welcome, she finds…well, you’ll just have to read it!

To continue the Author’s Blog Chain, I have tagged the following author friend, Judy Nickles. I met Judy just this year at the Northwest Arkansas Writers’ Conference in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Judy writes a cozy mysteries series about protagonist Penelope Pembroke. She also writes under the name of Gweneth More  and is a prolific author of other genres.

Where to find Judy:

blog: http://www.judythewordplace.blogspot.com
Twitter: @BigChiefTablet
Facebook: search Judy Moore Nickles
primary website:  http://www.judynickles.com
secondary website:  http://www.thepenelopepembrokecozymysteryseries.yolasite.com
email: judy@judynickles.com