Another One Done!

Yesterday afternoon I finished The Good Years, book two in my Tinder Street historical family saga. I started working on it on July 16 and it came in at 103,289 words. Now on to the proofing/editing stage.

Things should go quicker with this book because we tried something different this time around. During the writing process, after every two or three chapters, I would print them out for Miss Terry to proof and edit. Then I would make her corrections and send it on to my second proofreader to do her thing. When she sent it back, I made her corrections and it went to proofreader number three. So, most of the book has already been edited and proofread. Before I publish it, all three will take another look at the final manuscript. However, there should not be too much for them to deal with, so I think it will go faster.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Mackey, my excellent cover artist, is busy creating a cover for the new book. Unless something totally crazy happens, it should be out before the end of the month.

This is my fifth book this year, and I plan to release another book in my Big Lake mystery series by Christmas. A relatively new author I met online, who is just finishing her first book, asked me how it was possible for me to turn out so many books in such a short time. I told her that this is my business, and I approach it as a business. I usually write anywhere from 4 to 6 hours a day. I also spend another couple of hours a day on promotion, and anywhere from 2 to 3 hours a day on research. That’s seven days a week, and doesn’t count my daily blog, which runs anywhere from 500 to 1,000 words or more.

It’s like any other small business. If you want to succeed, you put your nose to the grindstone and you keep it there. I seldom take a complete day off. Maybe two or three times a month, at most. Between Florida’s hot, humid summer and COVID-19 self-isolating, it sure has made it easy to get a lot of work done!

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Congratulations Tim Miller, winner of our drawing for an audiobook of Dead Letter by Catherine Bender. The first book in the M. Falcon mystery series, it’s the tale of amateur detectives in their golden years with a treasure trove of unexpected skills and unconventional tactics, including a sweet wheelchair bound grandmother type who is a master computer hacker, a semi-retired actress who seizes the opportunity to live her dream of being a super spy, a homeless veteran, and other blue hairs who are not content to rock their lives away in boring retirement. We had 59 entries this time around. Stay tuned, a new contest starts soon.

Thought For The Day – I lived on a houseboat for a while and started a relationship with the girl next door. But eventually, we drifted apart.