Shannon Work's Blog, page 3

Book Titles Are Tricky (And I'm Picky)

For Book 2 of the Mountain Resort Mystery Series (like Book 1) I wanted a title that both evoked the mood of the novel as well as provide clues about the story.

In Book 1, NOW I SEE YOU, the protagonists are hunting for a stalker and a killer. The title is reflective of both. Throughout the story, the stalker literally "sees" his victims numerous times--through an open window, when she is out in public. He is always watching. The killer in the story figuratively "sees" his potential victim when he identifies her as his next target.

I hope you will read EVERYTHING TO LOSE and see the multiple connections between the story and title, as well. And I hope you like it!

Everything To Lose is coming soon!

I'm busy getting the first draft of Everything To Lose (Book 2 in the Mountain Resort Mystery Series) ready to send to my editor. But I admit, these sunsets in the mountains have been very distracting!

Here's an early synopsis of Everything To Lose:

When her husband is found dead in their Vail, Colorado mansion, Victoria Banks is accused of murder. Determined to prove her innocence, she hires famed detective Jack Martin to help find the real killer.

But when the two uncover a sinister plot some would kill to keep secret, could it cost both of them their lives?

With a growing list of suspects, can Jack find the killer in time to prove Victoria’s innocence? Or will he discover his beautiful client is actually guilty of murder?

From the mountain luxury of Vail, Colorado, to the oilfields outside Denver, Everything To Lose is a page-turning story of murder and greed.

Murder and greed--what better kinds of stories are there?? Everything To Lose should be out in April. I hope you like it!

Where do book ideas come from?

Book ideas come from everywhere--stories you've been told in the past, television, movies, other books. But mostly they come from your imagination. Sometimes flying at you out of nowhere at the end of the day as you're about to drop off to sleep, other times while you sit and think of all the intriguing 'What if?' questions your novel could delve into and answer. I love the ideas that come at me visually, when they're triggered by something I see.

Look at this tree that sits just off the back patio of a townhouse we have in College Station. The tree lays between the patio and the fairway of a golf course (not very terrifying, I know). But look at the tree in the sinister light of an approaching storm. Could someone be lost in the brambles around it? Or even buried near its base? Could the tree be the secret meeting place of a small cult or secret band of thieves? Does the tree come alive when someone is alone and ventures too near, swooping down and clawing at them with its gnarled limbs like the Whomping Willow in Harry Potter? Could the tree be responsible for the spate of people gone missing over the years? Maybe someone goes missing every year on the same night, never to be heard from again? Hmm. Could be fun!

To quote Stephen King: "Let's get one thing clear right now, shall we? There is no Idea Dump, no Story Central, no Island of the Buried Bestsellers; good story ideas seem to come quite literally from nowhere, sailing at you right out of the empty sky.”

Author Interview: Shannon Work

How do you get candy, your favorite curse word, and Mount Everest into an interview about writing? Hint: You don't really know yourself until you face a lightning round of 10 personal questions!

I had so much fun doing this interview with Nina Soden. We talked about writing and lots of other fun stuff. I hope you enjoy it!

https://youtu.be/1gxEkTiLEcE

Mystery Solved: Why I Think Readers Love Mysteries

I read widely in an eclectic mix of genres—history, westerns, romance and mystery. But if you said to choose just one, I wouldn’t hesitate. I’d choose a good mystery novel every time.

Since the publication of Now I See You, I’ve been asked why I chose to write a mystery. The answer is simple. It’s what I most love to read.

Traditional detectives, amateur sleuths, hard-boiled cops, cozies—I like them all.

Some of my favorite mystery authors are no longer with us: Agatha Christie, PD James, and Mary Higgins Clark. A few favorite contemporaries are Ruth Ware, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon.

When I pick up a mystery, I know what I’m going to get. There will be a crime (usually murder), there will be good guys and bad, clues and red herrings, an intriguing puzzle that will keep me turning the pages to find out ‘whodunit.’ And in the end, justice will prevail.

Predictable tropes? Maybe. But a good mystery promises the reader a story of action and adventure. We can step into exotic settings and dangerous situations, living vicariously through the story’s characters from the safety of our own homes.

Most of us are law-abiding citizens. We’re not crime-solvers or criminals. But reading a good mystery allows us to step out of our lives for a few hours and lose ourself in stories of danger and intrigue. We are offered a thrill without the threat. We’re given a courtside seat as the hero gathers and sifts through clues, and hunts down the bad guy.

Playwright Oscar Wilde once said: “The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last.”

We know the stories never last. There’s always the last chapter, the last page, the final sentence. But when the story is done, when good has prevailed and evil is punished, when all is right with the world again, that’s when it’s time to scan the bookshelf and grab the next.

The Enduring Appeal of Agatha Christie (And One Author's Obsession)

Agatha Christie once said, “People should be interested in books, not their authors.” But interest in both Agatha Christie and her books has now endured for a century.

Christie published her first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1920. What followed were 65 additional mystery novels, 14 collections of short stories, and one hundred years of the world’s fascination with the author.

Christie has sold more than 2 billion books worldwide, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. There are Facebook groups, blogs, even a podcast and an iPhone app dedicated to the author and her books.

I read my first Agatha Christie novel, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, decades ago and was instantly hooked. After all these years, I’m still reading (and re-reading) her books. Every summer I read one I haven’t read before and re-read one of my favorites. This summer I re-read Death on the Nile in anticipation of the new film adaptation scheduled to be released in December.

Christie and her works have influence many of the best contemporary mystery writers. Authors such as Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley readily acknowledge Christie’s influence in their own writing. And with an endless number of mystery novels written since Christie’s career, her books steadfastly remain classics of the genre.

When I decided to write my own mystery, I picked out several of my favorite Christie novels, re-read and studied them. Her stories always include twists, turns and jaw-dropping conclusions. But they also delve into common human behaviors—fear, jealousy, revenge and greed.

Fast-paced and deceptively easy to read, her novels are sometime dismissed by critics as simple, her prose criticized as flat. But I agree with Nathaniel Hawthorne who famously quipped, “Easy reading is damned hard writing.”

The photo included with the post is just part of my Agatha Christie collection. There are a handful of Christie books at our home in Colorado, and at least two currently on my bedside table in Houston.

How can anyone read and not thoroughly enjoy an Agatha Christie novel?

It’s a mystery to me.

Outlining Book 2

I've been busy outlining Book 2 of the Mountain Resort Mystery Series. The working title is Everything to Lose. I'm super excited about the story. It's set in Vail, Colorado, and features the enigmatic Detective Jack Martin introduced in Now I See You (Book 1).

Like I did with Now I See You, I started Everything to Lose by writing a 4-5 page synopsis of the story from beginning to end, fleshing out characters as I went. Then I created a step outline (sometimes I call it a scene list) where I list all the potential scenes I can envision occurring in the story. Today, I started going back through the step outline and adding details to the scenes and even adding a few additional scenes needed to tie plotlines together.

A lot of authors don't outline at all. I am amazed at their ability to do this--to sit down, start typing with little or no idea where their story is headed, then end up with a completed manuscript at some point in the future. For me, outlining is one of my favorite steps in the process of writing a novel. It's the fun part, where I can sit and dream up Who, What, When, Where, How and Why. When I'm done with the outline, the hard part begins--the writing.

Writing a Mystery Novel

It took me a year to write NOW I SEE YOU, my debut novel. I kept the book a secret from my family and wrote in fits and starts when I knew no one was looking. I finally told my husband what I was doing when I was about halfway finished with the first draft, but I didn't tell my kids until I was completely done. But now that I've been outed as a writer, I should be able to write the second book much faster.

When I was finally finished with the first draft, I self-edited it before I sent it on to a structural editor. This was a Herculean effort since the first draft was a mess. So many plot holes to fill, character names that had changed mid-draft, dates to check and recheck with timelines, etc., etc. Scenes got added, rewritten, and reordered. I was nervous but also relieved when I finally uploaded it in an email to my editor and hit Send.

When I got the manuscript back, there was yet another round of edits to complete. Interior monologue was replaced by dialogue in some places. Description added in some spots and taken out in others. Problems with storyline were addressed. Scenes were again scrambled and even deleted in a couple instances. Whew!

Next, it was off to the copy editor and proofreader. Wow, do I need to brush up on punctuation! There were also sentences to revise for clarity and a few more story editing issues to address.

Then finally, after two complete read-throughs (the last done in a single day), I was finished. Writing this first novel has been a steep learning curve. I’m hoping writing the second will be a bit easier. Here’s to hoping!

NOW I SEE YOU is currently with the formatter and will probably be published sometime next week. I hope you read it and enjoy it!

Weekend Workout

Saturday I took a break from finishing final edits on the manuscript of NOW I SEE YOU, my debut novel—a traditional mystery whodunit that will be out in September. We hiked 3-½ hours to this beautiful alpine lake outside Telluride. But no worries, I made my deadline and got the edited manuscript to the proofreader yesterday. I’m taking a REAL break today (no hiking). I’m pooped!

Finishing Final Edits

I worked outside this morning before it rained. Finishing up the last edits before the manuscript is off to the proofreader on Monday! #NowISeeYou #September2020