A Writing Weekend...

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I had the pleasure of attending Carolyn Greene's "Plotting a Cozy" workshop this weekend. She definitely earned her nickname as the "Plot Doctor."

In writing, there are plotters, pantsers, and a hybrid of the two. Plotters meticulously lay out the entire storyline with high level details for scenes, characters, and dialogues. Pantsers have an idea, and they write. I start out as a plotter. I do a high level outline. I write to the outline, but I do sometimes go where the story takes me. So, I guess I'm a plotter who does step off the path from time to time.

Carolyn offered some great worksheets and tips for outlining, defining characters, and creating the mystery. She color codes each piece and cuts them into strips. She lays them all out and then writes chapter summaries. She has worked out the entire novel before she ever starts writing.

I do keep a Word table of all my settings and characters. I'm working on a series, and I want to make sure that I maintain continuity between each work. If you get a chance to hear Carolyn speak, do so. She has some amazing tips for mystery writers.

Author Carolyn Greene, The Plot Doctor

Author Carolyn Greene, The Plot Doctor

On Sunday, I signed Virginia is for Mysteries with Fiona Quinn and Rosemary Shomaker at Barnes and Noble - Chesterfield Towne Center. We enjoyed talking to everyone who came out to see us. We celebrated Mystery month with Rosemary's raven.

Lee Child's PERSONAL

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In Personal, Jack Reacher, a former Army MP, sees an ad for him to contact an acquaintance in a military paper that he finds on a bus. He does and is whisked away within hours to  the former Pope Air Force Base.

He learns of a possible assassination attempt at the G8 summit, and our government thinks that a former sniper that Reacher put away fifteen years ago may be one of the suspects. Reacher, along with a rookie analyst from the State Department, try to track down the sniper, recently released from jail. Their journey takes them to Arkansas, France, and England where they battle two different gangs and bureaucracies of several governments.

The title becomes evident in the last few pages of the book. And Child ties up all of the loose ends. He does a good job with building tension in this novel. I always like Jack Reacher, but I wasn't that fond of his sidekick in this one.

Mary Miley's Book Launch

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I had the pleasure of attending Mary Miley's book launch for Silent Murders this week at the Library of Virginia in Richmond. Her theme was the Roaring 20s, and the Art Deco Society of Richmond came in costume.

Mary talked about some of the myths of silent films. And the library featured Don Q, Son of Zorro, the movie that is featured prominently in Mary's latest mystery.

Mary's mystery series that features amateur sleuth, Jessie Carr, assistant script girl at Pickfair, is set in the heart of Hollywood's heyday.  

Check out Mary's mysteries, The Impersonator and Silent Murders.

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Writing Stuff...

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It's raining here in Central Virginia. It's a good day to work on my manuscript. I'm editing chapter thirty-one. I also made a gift basket for Virginia is for Mysteries for the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign (CVC). It's full of mugs, hot chocolate, chocolate candies, other goodies, and a copy of our VIFM anthology.

Disney and Riley also tried on parts of their Halloween costumes. They were not that enthusiastic about the entire ordeal. They only hung out because they were promised treats.

I hope you have a great weekend. Happy writing and reading!