The Inside Story , two

Tomorrow is the big day. My second book in the Kate Nash Mystery Series is to be released.
I wrote the books so they will stand alone. In other words, if you didn't read Finding Lizzy Smith,
you will still be able to follow the second one, Who's Roxy Watkins? without feeling lost or that we all have a secret you don't know.

Of course, with each  book, you learn a little more about the characters, their likes and dislikes,  favorite foods, clothes, and who thinks what about who.

Readers are asking when book three will be done. Honestly, I'm not sure. I have a title, The Untimely Death of Ivy Tucker (I've been known to change my mind).

My brain is still swirling around Murder in Madison Woods, so for the first time I am writing two books at once.

Since I can't buy groceries without a list, remember where I put my glasses, car keys, or the TV remote, this will be a serious challenge.

How many of you read my crime book, The Twisted Mind of Cletus Compton?  I guess that was a silly question since I can't see a show of hands. Anyway, the two most popular characters in that book will make another appearance in Murder in Madison Woods. Can you believe no one wanted to run into Cletus Compton or his brother Warren again?

Okay, two of the characters everyone seemed to like, or from the comments, loved, are Tony Massey, the six- feet -six dark haired shy and single sherrif of Ash County and Dr. Boo Jordan, retired FBI profiler and phychiatrist. Yes, her name is Boo. Want to know why?

When my daughters were in high school the quarterback of one of the local teams was named Boo Champange. I decided if I ever had the opportunity to use the name Boo, I would.

Until we meet again, turn off the TV and read a book. It's impossible to think about all of your problems, politics, the laundry and most everything else if your mind is in Africa, chasing a bad guy, trying to figure out who the killers, finding out the neighbor next door is a spy, or spending the night at the Scary Inn.

The Inside Story Part One

I began writing a new book. I'm about 17,000 words into it. It's about an eighteen-year-old who has been living alone in the National Forest.

The working title is Murder in Madison Woods. I might change it.

I don't know anyone else's writing process, but mine starts with a small idea. Sometimes I can write the idea down in one sentence or a couple of words.Then it festers and grows. People walk through my mind. Some I keep and some I tuck away for another novel.

I go to my writing space and write until what has brewed and materializes is gone, then I do other tasks writers must do.

Believe me, If writers only had to write, I would be prolific. The problem is, they want you to have a Twitter account, an Instagram page, and a blog. Did I forget the newsletter and the Author pages on Amazon, Audible, and maybe iTunes; I'm not there yet?

I forgot my Website.

During the afternoon and evening, more of the story presents itself to me and I write it down the next day.

Meanwhile, other stories fill my head and I have a dozen or so notebooks I make notes in to keep it all straight.
We will talk more about this in the days and weeks to come. If you are a writer, tell me your writing process. If you are a reader, what draws you to the book? Is it the cover or the blurb on the back? Something else maybe?

Let me know. It is very easy to leave a comment here. If you are shy and don't want anyone else to read what you have to say, send it to my email

susankeeenebooks@gmail.com

Have a wonderful day.

How to Write the great American novel, well, maybe!

Everyday someone asks me, how do you write a book. I answer honestly, I haven't a clue. There is a book called The Artist's Way. It tells all aspiring writers they should write three pages a day no matter what. If nothing comes to you then right babble, just write. Well, I have never had a problem with coming up with ideas.

First, if you want to be a writer, the one rule I know is  to put your rear end in a chair and write.

If you don't have an idea then look up and write about the first thing you see or some people practice by using a prompt. The short story Thirteen is written from a prompt. I went to a writer's group and the lady said "For next month write a story about Friday the thirteenth, so I did.

Once I sit down, I can write for hours. My problem is sitting down. I swear, I think I have AADHD.

There are a million things I can think of to do instead of writing.To keep myself on the straight and narrow, I get up most mornings at six and write until ten. I only allow myself to get up to use the bathroom or get another cup of coffee. It has been working well. I average about fifteen hundred words a day. Theoretically, I could write an 80,000 word  book every two months or so. Wow, that sounds great.  It doesn't work that way. During those four hours, I have to make sure my details are correct, my characters are believable and my story flows.

I have always been told "get it down on paper and then go back and fix it". I can't work like that. If I realize my hero was thirty-five with green eyes in chapter two and in chapter four his eyes turned brown, I must fix it.

Next question I get asked is where do you get your ideas?  Everywhere. The other day I was buying groceries and the guy in front of me looked like the kind of guy who could clear out a bar with one swipe of his hand and yet he was gently holding a baby. Believe me, he will show up somewhere.

In truth, I don't know. I dream them, see a snippet on TV or in a book that sends my mind off on a tangent and I'm gone again.

Children's books are different. They come to me fully written. For days the idea will swirl around in my head and when it is fully formulated I sit down and write it. Usually in an hour or so. Then I take it to the very talented Mike Sears and he brings them to life. Diggitty the Dog Vol 2 will be out in a week or so and Diggitty the Dog Saves Christmas is at Mike's now.

For fear that I will bore you , I am going to stop now as soon as I tell you about my new series about the Watcher in the Woods.

All of the mysteries or crimes take place in the towns around the Mark Twain National Forest. (Truman  in the series). It is one and a half million acres. The Watcher sees things. At first he didn't do anything. He went on about his business , but one day a man drug the body of a boy in the woods and buried it. The Watcher couldn't get it out of his mind. When a sheriff of another small town is investigating a murder in another part of the forest, the Watcher moves the boys body where it will be found. It is only the beginning of the things the Watcher sees and the lengths he goes to to bring the criminals to justice. The first book in the Watcher series is The Body in the Woods. Should be out  by fall.

See you soon.
Stop by  www.ptierneyjames.blogspot.com  who will be a guest blogger here on May 15  and at www.lisamedley.com . Lisa will be my guest on May 5.
Happy reading and writing