Nostalgia

With The Architect completed and out in the world (Audible finally listed it - they're always the last), I'm moving ahead with the last three Epitaph novels in audio. Next up is The Selkie. 

Once a novel is finished, there usually isn't a reason to revisit it, and I'm generally busy moving forward with the next one, so going back to review the audio files comes with a touch of nostalgia. Where I was in my life when I wrote that book. The things I researched. The tips my sources provided me for authenticity. Sort of like hearing a song from the past that takes you back to certain memories.

Then there's the "moving forward" part. These side trips into audio are forestalling my momentum. I've had enough people asking me for the other Epitaph books in audio that it's worth the time and effort. (Shout out to narrator Karen Frantz for nailing the Irish accent in The Selkie.) Meanwhile, I'm sifting through ghost stories, looking for the right one for Elle to deal with in her next adventure. I've been procrastinating until I've visited the haunted B&B in a couple weeks' time, but I usually have an idea of how the story is going to go, or at least pieces of it. I'm "head writing," which provides me with snippets, but still toying with the big picture. The main ghost. The theme. And I'm feeling BEHIND. Or am I just being lazy?

All in good time. During this quiet time, I've been visiting with family and catching up on all the other things that fall by the wayside when I'm "in the groove." Sometimes it's okay to stop and breathe in the scent of those roses, ya know?

Random moment of free association - who else is in the zone for the cicada-pocalypse? Expecting the invasion in another month's time. I should be firmly planted in front of my computer by that time and out of the flight path aside from my daily forays "out and about." 

Haunted Vacations

In case you haven't heard 😉 the new book is out. I can't wait to hear what everybody thinks about THE JANE DOE GHOST! With the new baby successfully launched into the world, I'm preparing my next. My editor wants me to keep going with the Elspeth Barclay series - says she's really enjoying them. To that end...

I'm going on a trip to stay at a "haunted" B&B in a couple of weeks' time. We'll see if we can scare up any ghosts to write about. A few years back, The Big Guy and I went to NOLA. Rumor has it that all the hotels in NOLA are haunted, and the one we stayed at was no exception. Did we see any ghosts? (No.) In June, I'm headed to Savannah, which is purported to be the most haunted city in the states. Will we find any ghosts there? Not holding my breath, but it's always fun to hear the stories. 

Everywhere I go, I hear ghost stories, and I keep a journal of what I consider the more interesting ones. Hoping I have plenty of inspiration to draw on for Elspeth to work with. 

Do you have any ghostly experiences/stories to share?

How do characters get their names?

The Jane Doe Ghost is less than a week away! In honor of the upcoming release, I thought I'd share some fun facts about how the characters got their names.

Elspeth (Elle) - I've wanted to use this name FOREVER. I first heard it when I used to listen to Mystery Theater on the radio. The actress, Elspeth Aric, was a frequent performer, as was Mercedes McCambridge. I wrote a story once using both those names that was a dud, and my critique partner tells me the names are outdated. Old names are making a comeback! For instance, my granddaughter shares my grandmother's name. I figured it was time to bring Elspeth out of the mothballs.

Laine - One of the ladies I interviewed for Horned Owl Hollow has a boyfriend named Lane. As I tossed about for a name for Elle's sister, I didn't think he'd mind if I adapted his name and changed his gender to be Elle's sidekick.

Chance - This one is funny (at least I think so). I'd been out with a group of my husband's friends (and wives) and one of the wives mentioned to me she loved the movie Being There with Peter Sellers. It's not a well-known movie, but yes, I've seen it. We joked about it and all the nuances. When the caretaker of the Horned Owl Hollow estate showed up for the first time, I reached into the recesses of my mind for a suitable name and wouldn't you know it? Chance, the gardener, popped up. At the time, I wasn't sure what his role was going to be. Obviously, my Chance isn't anything like Chance the gardener, but his name stuck.

The rest of them? I keep a database of names to use, along with names I've used in other books (so I don't reuse them). Names pop out at me every day as I live my life. Most of the names I pick are random, or appropriate to the role based on free association. When I named the people in Maine in this book, I did do a search to see what names were popular in Maine for a taste of authenticity. 

Sometimes I do have name snafus. For instance, in Cookie Therapy, I'd named a character Shannon. Time came for a last name, and I was searching about for what fit with Shannon. Somewhere in my subconscious, I picked Doherty. An Irish first name should go with an Irish surname, you know. It got all the way to my editor before she pointed out there was "someone else" name Shannon Doherty, and did I really want to use that name? Oops. Sometimes there's a reason those names sound so good together! I tend to Google names to make sure I haven't conveniently forgotten someone with that name, a lesson I learned writing my very first book that I neglected to do with that book.

Now I have to remind you that you can preorder The Jane Doe Ghost! Oh, and have I mentioned the audiobook of The Architect is available? If you buy it this month, you get the discounted launch price. Get it while it's hot!

Click here to preorder

Buy it now before the price goes up!

The end is near

How's that for gloom and doomy! Except it isn't gloomy OR doomy!

The audiobook for The Architect is done and making its way to the sales outlets. The sample is live on my website and I will be adding links to buy as they go live. I've priced it at a special launch price of $5.99 this month only, so you should buy it sooner rather than later {wink wink}. I'd love to know what you think of the narrator. The final three books in the Epitaph series will be going into audio, as well. My Facebook followers all agree they prefer a woman narrator, even if the final three books center on "the boys." They're romances (with ghostly intervention), with alternating male/female points of view. Have I mentioned how much I loved revisiting The Architect? (I think you'll like it, too!)

ALSO, I'm doing my final review for The Jane Doe Ghost, listening as Word reads the final version back to me to make sure I haven't missed any mistakes. By now it should certainly be perfect but, you know, just in case. Fingers crossed! Two weeks until release day. Promotion is scheduled for her launch into the world and scheduling the audiobook for THIS book, as well. 

So, yes, these things are taking up most of my time right now. I'm also writing a short story about Chance (from the Elspeth Barclay novels), but you'll have to subscribe to my newsletter to get that (free!). 

In the meantime, anyone know how you get a black eye spontaneously? (Asking for a friend.)

It's the final countdown...

By the end of the week, I should have (what should be) the final edits for The Jane Doe Ghost. It's getting real. She's *this close* to launching into the real world. While I'm waiting, I've been reviewing the audio files for The Architect, which should be done next week. I'm not sure which one I'm more excited about.

In anticipation of the new book (in case you haven't already seen it), here's an excerpt:

I reached for the lamp and tried to turn it on once more. Nothing. Chance and I both jumped when a resounding thump came from overhead. “The attic it is,” Chance said. “You ready?”

I followed him to the door in the corner of the living room, and as soon as he opened it, a draft swept past us, followed by a low-pitched moan.

Chance lowered his voice. “I’m still not getting that prickly feeling which might indicate—what do you call it?—residual energy. Stay behind me in case our uninvited visitor is of the human variety.”

“What are you going to do? Blind them with your flashlight?”

He patted the wall, then turned his flashlight to where he expected to find the light switch. He flipped the switch and nothing happened. Tried again—down and then up. Chance grabbed my hand and led me up the wooden staircase. We tiptoed, making the occasional creak on a loose step.

The attic was one big room, made up of exposed beams and filled with old furniture, suitcases, and miscellaneous collectibles. Potential treasures for my antiques store? I’d have to ask Annette about it tomorrow.

Chance’s flashlight lit one wall, where a desk and a filing cabinet were tucked under the pitched roof. He continued to pan around until we heard more rustling behind us and what sounded like a child’s voice. Chance pivoted and shined the light. Two glowing eyes looked back at us right before his flashlight flickered out.

Chance’s voice took on a sense of urgency. “Downstairs. Now.”

Did I mention you can preorder it? THE JANE DOE GHOST will be released April 16.

Revisiting old friends

Ya know, by the time you finish writing a book, you’ve read it so many times you know each word by heart. In spite of that, it isn’t uncommon for a few rogue words to throw a monkey wrench into the works. You release it out into the world hoping for the best and praying you never have to read it again (after reading it thirty hundred times already). Did you do a good job? Is it any good? You hope readers connect with it and you move on to the next project, but you're sick of reading it over and over and over...

What’s all this about? I had so much fun writing the Epitaph books. It took an inordinately long time to get the first one right, but when I did, it launched the series and I spent the next few years with the Bensons and the McCormicks. I recently contracted to finish the series in audio, picking up with The Architect. I remember thinking I didn’t like the man I had foreshadowed for Kathleen, so I wrote her a break-up and a new love interest. As I listen to Karen Frantz reading the story to me all these years later, I’m enjoying the book as a reader/listener rather than the author. Hey! I did a good job! You'd think I actually knew how to write a story. It helps when the narrator likes it, too.

If you're a newsletter subscriber, you'll be notified as soon as the audiobook enters the world. Oh, and did I mention I have a new cover? Subtle differences. Less "American Gothic."

Learn more

For those of you asking about the weight loss journey: I'm still sitting at the "new" baseline, so in an effort to move things along, I've lowered my daily calorie goal. No one said this was easy!

Everything old is new again

What can I say? I'm a nerd. 

I've been lazy with the last several books and let a program format my books for me. When I first started out, I did all of that myself because those options weren't available. Welp, I've decided I don't want to use the program I'd been using because I don't want to distribute the paperback via the channel that did the formatting. So where does that leave me while prepping the new release for sale? Back to square one.

Books have to look a certain way. There's room for dressing things up a tad, and to make that easier, I've developed templates and macros. However, because it has been so long since I've HAD to do it, I'd forgotten a lot of what I used to know. I've changed computers a time or two along the way, losing my hard work with the new systems. 

I spent a full day last week recreating those templates and macros and putting them all in one place. The nerd in me is excited to be doing something else creative aside from writing the books. The author in me is frustrated that I have to remember how to do all the formatting all over again. Which is why I wrote macros. And templates. Again. And I have to remember all over again where and how everything is stored. Those fun little graphics at the start of each chapter? I save those into building blocks. Building blocks are part of the “normal” template. The macros have to know which building blocks to pull. Then there's the matter of "drop caps" or "starting caps." Most books begin each chapter with the first letter of the sentence in "drop caps" (large and as a block at the edge of the paragraph) or the first three words all in capitals. If you have 40 chapters, that's a lot of manual labor when a macro can do it for you in a flash.

The end result was a merging of nerd with author, creating both the tools I need to use and applying them to the book that will go on sale April 16. In the meantime, I'm waiting for final comments from my editor so I can put the finishing touches on THE JANE DOE GHOST. Can't wait? If you order it ahead of time you can dive right in the minute it's available on release day. 

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click to preorder

Now that Elspeth “Elle” Barclay’s mother has retired from “clearing” haunted houses, Elle and her boyfriend step in to evaluate disturbances reported by a local client. They debunk the haunting, but find spiritual energy outside the house. The victim of a hit and run accident, a Jane Doe ghost asks Elle to tell “someone something,” but Elle has no idea who or what. In spite of that, the ghost’s pleas become increasingly compelling.

In an effort to identify their Jane Doe, Elle and her boyfriend take a trip to Bar Harbor, Maine, in search of the dead woman’s family. The family, however, isn’t interested in talking to Elle.

Even after Elle has passed along the information to Jane Doe’s family, Jane Doe continues to haunt her. What more does she want? Elle has never encountered a spirit who can manifest her energy physically before. After a man connected to Jane Doe is found dead, is Elle’s life in danger, too?