The Creation of My Books

In real life, I’m a spontaneous, unorganized person. Want to
go on a trip? Sure, I’m in! Airline reservations? Okay, sure, when I get time.
Motels? Oh, we’ll find one.

Fortunately my boyfriend is very organized. He does all
those things and I go along.

A couple of years ago I wanted to attend the Writers’ Police
Academy. My mystery writer friends had been telling me all year how wonderful
it is. They all signed up. I was so excited about going!

Usually I go to conferences with a friend who has the same
personality as my boyfriend. She registers, gets a hotel room and a flight,
then orders me to register for the conference and get on the same flight.

But she isn’t a mystery writer. When I finally got around to
signing up for the Writers’ Police Academy, registration was closed. All spots
taken. That sucked! Well, maybe next year.

Then a friend got word that they had a cancellation. Did I
want it? Yes! She gave the conference organizer my name, so when I finally got
around to contacting him, the slot was, amazingly, still open. Yay!

Then there was the matter of the hotel room. I got on the
Internet and checked. No rooms available. Bummer. I called the hotel to find
out the closest place I could stay and still get to the conference. Well, the
hotel was kind of isolated. Not much else around. Yikes! But as we were
talking, someone called and cancelled! I got a room!

In spite of being a pretty flaky person, I manage to get
through life with a little luck and a lot of help from my friends.

My writing style follows my life style. There are two types
of writers: (1) Plotters who create an outline of the entire story then write
the book. (2) Pantsers who write by the seat of our pants. We begin with the
beginning and write the book as it unfolds in our brain. I’m a pantser.

I get an idea for a new book. I create a new folder on my
computer for that book then the first document entitled “Notes.” In that
document I write whatever comes to mind. “Trent’s ex-wife is going to cause
problems.” “A body appears on Lindsay’s lawn, and Henry didn’t drag this one
in.” “Rick has a scheme for taking over the international chocolate market.” I
also keep notebooks stashed around the house and in my car so I can make notes
as ideas occur to me. “Rick GF bro drugs.” Those notes are often hard to
decipher, especially the ones written while sitting in my car at a red light or
in bed in the middle of the night when I don’t want to turn on the light and
wake the boyfriend.

The first chapter unfolds in my head like a movie. I simply
write it down.

Then I take that first chapter and my cluttered notes to my
critique group and they say things like, “Are you crazy? Fred can’t have a
secret baby!”

With a better understanding of what may or may not happen in
my upcoming book, I go home and continue writing. Each scene is a surprise. Magic
happens. I realize that the cast iron skillet I put in Chapter 2 has a purpose!
It’s exactly what Lindsay needs in Chapter 9 to whack her ex over the head.

As I reach the halfway point of the first draft, new plot
points come up as if by magic. I write a sticky note for each one. “Go back to
Chapter 3 and insert something about the witch in the window.” “Check for
references to Chaille and be sure each one shows she’s bat crap crazy.” “Give
Chuck a gun in Chapter 7 but he doesn’t know which end the bullets come out of.”

When I do my first round of revisions, I throw away each
sticky note as I make the designated change. When my desk is clean, I know my
story line is logical.

I sometimes wish I could be a plotter. Like having airline
and motel reservations in advance of a trip, an outline of my book would make
writing it much easier and reduce the stress of wondering if the Scene Fairy
will give me the next one.

When I wrote for Harlequin/Silhouette in the 1990s, I had to
turn in a proposal for each new book. A proposal consisted of the first three
chapters and a synopsis of the rest of the book. Writing the first three
chapters was easy, but the synopsis was a nightmare. I’d call my editor almost
every day and bounce ideas off her. She was The Best Editor and always willing
to help. Finally after twice the time it took me to write those first three
chapters, I’d finish a satisfactory synopsis and send it off. They’d buy the
book and I’d write the rest of it…and from Chapter 4 through the end, it had
nothing to do with that stupid synopsis.

Now that I write for myself, I don’t have to pretend I know
the ending of the book until I get there. Amazingly, I always get there…with a
little luck and a lot of help from my friends.