The End

I finally wrote the last chapter of the first draft of my second Karnie Cleaver mystery. Whew! A mouthful. Now, I can send it to my critique partners and wait to see how much work it still needs. But for now, it’s DONE! Happy dance! Sing praises to the heavens. Drink a glass of wine!

Tomorrow, not today, I’ll start trying to think of ways to promote it. I’ve slacked off on that for my last two books. I was buried in family stuff and couldn’t get the motivation. But this time, I’d like to give the poor book a little bit of a push. I hope.

The Story Empire blog did a great series by Jan Sikes on marketing, and it reminded me of some of the things I’ve done in the past. Here’s a link to one of her posts: https://storyempirecom.wordpress.com/2022/05/04/mktg-14-book-blog-tours/.

Anyway, Karnie’s story is finished, and now I can start working on plot points for another Jazzi and Ansel novel. If I can keep to my plan, (which doesn’t always happen), I’d like to write a Jazzi mystery, then a Nick and Laurel, then a Jazzi, then a Karnie, then a Jazzi, and another Nick and Laurel, and on and on. But things don’t always go according to plan.

This Karnie got a little more dramatic than I’d intended, but plot points don’t always clue me into the TONE of a book, just the events. I know WHAT will happen but not always how the characters will react to the events. Sounds odd, doesn’t it? But it’s true. Even though I put my characters through their paces, they do what they want about it. And they often surprise me. That’s part of the fun of writing.

Hopefully, soon, I can polish the book and publish it. And maybe even market it. Wish me luck!

OR

OR

Do you have a preference? Or do they all suck?

Happy summer solstice! And happy writing!