I got into a conversation the other day with a friend
of mine. She teaches English and
Literature classes at our local community college.
My friend has just discovered that I write books and
stories, and she’s read two of them so far.
She says she likes them very much.
Since we speak a couple of times each week, I keep her
posted on the progress of whatever story I’m working on. In this particular conversation, we were
talking about Junior’s Farm – A Tale Of
Sardis County.
For those of you new to this blog, Junior’s Farm began its existance as a straight romance novel, with
action thrown in to make it interesting.
The Giambini crime family, which made its first appearance in the
Justice Security novel Jackie Blue,
is instrumental in causing the chance meeting between the heroine, Katie
Montgomery, and the hero, Alan Blake.
The story was to focus on their budding relationship, and the
relationship with Carol Grace, Katie’s thirteen-year-old daughter, as they try
to make a go of the farm left to Katie by her grandparents. The story was taking place in Sardis County,
where magical things happen as a matter of course, as established in Don’t Come Around Here No More – A Tale Of
Sardis County. No magic was planned,
except for the relationship itself, and the story was going to be marketed to
Harlequin.
I made a startling discovery as I worked on the novel,
and another startling discovery this week.
The second discovery – the one I that I discovered this
week – concerned the publisher Harlequin, and can be found here, in author J.
A. Konrath’s blog from May 8, 2012: http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2012/05/harlequin-fail.html
For the record, all of my stories have been published through
Amazon. I did it that way, not because I
couldn’t find an agent for my first novel, which I couldn’t…I did it for simple
economic reasons. Seventy percent
royalties, and I control my work. Simple
as that.
The first discovery that I made was that I don’t seem
to be able to write a straight romance novel.
I began floundering as the story progressed, and having trouble keeping
the story interesting to me. And, if I’m
not interested in a story I’m writing, how in the world am I going to finish
it?
So, I changed some things in the book, adding a family
connection for Katie and Carol Grace, making them descendants of the Sardis
family, through Katie’s great-grandmother…which made Margo Sardis, the witch
from Don’t Come Around Here No More,
Katie’s great-great aunt. Katie, of
course, didn’t know this fact, and the discovery floors her. Does she have the same…uh…gift…that her Aunt Margo has? Yes.
Has it been passed down to Carol Grace?
Yes. Does it make the story flow
better?
To quote Rowan
And Martin’s Laugh-In, you bet your sweet bippy!
I’m having a blast writing this story, and I’m
establishing lots of things still to come in Sardis County!
So, back to the conversation with my teacher friend…we
were talking about the changes and how much better the story is moving now, and
she asked how far ahead that I’ve planned titles.
Fair question…Right now, I don’t plan any short stories
for the forseeable future. But, I never
see them coming…they just pop up in my mind unexpectedly. As far as the novels go, here’s a list of the
next five novels that you can expect:
1.
Junior’s Farm – A Tale Of Sardis County
2.
Hell’s
Bells – A Nicholas Turner/Justice Security Novel
3.
I’m
Your Boogie Man – A Tale Of Sardis County
4.
Black
Dog – A Justice Security Novel
5.
Werewolves
Of London – A Tale Of Sardis County
I’ve learned that it’s folly to give a synopsis of any
of them until I’ve completed them.
Sometimes, they don’t turn out as planned…
Truthfully, I’ve planned many more than those five…but,
as it stands right now, those are the next
five.
Unless plans change.
Meanwhile, just remember: Pick up a book, and…
Keep reading!
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