Villains, plotlines, and doughy apple cobbler.

And now the moment you have all been waiting for...I will reveal the secret to making a good cobbler:

BUY ONE. Or, at the very least--DO NOT SUBSTITUTE TORTILLA FLOUR FOR REAL FLOUR. EVEN IF YOU HAVE RUN OUT OF REAL FLOUR.

Anyhow, as I mentioned in my last post, my latest WIP is a mystery set in sunny, or more appropriately, windy New Mexico.

In an effort to procrastinate writing that dreaded first draft--er--productively manage my time, I began working on my "elevator pitch" while stalling--ehem--plotting my first chapter.

But seriously. I learned quite a bit from my previous wip's: I like to get a skeleton plot out as early as possible, I like to get to know my characters, I like to be mean to my characters--thereby producing conflict, and I like to do it all as efficiently as possible. I mean, first drafts already take up an exorbitant amount of time, why make matter worse?

So, while I DO know where this story is going, having recently read that writing those one sentence, vague hook things that are at once intriguing and horribly annoying can help you keep your plot in focus (When accompanied by a short description of the story that vaguely resembles a back cover description), I decided to write one.

It looks something like this:

When three teens are murdered and one disappears,a former PI must confront her past to secure her niece's future.

Or this:

When three teens are murdered and her niece disappears, a former PI must return to the life she left to save the family she loves.

Now I'm off to do some character studies on my villains. Muahahaha.

Summer!

Wow! The time has flown since my last post. That last paper for school really loaded me down.

As of now, I am in the process of becoming a summertime bohemian. That is, I am trying really hard to do nothing except play my guitar and write books--and other such non-"productive" tasks. In fact, I'm succeeding for the most part. Except, you know, when I have to go to work...

Anyway, I have a couple of topics I want to address today: one is my current writing project, and the other--perhaps more interesting--is BLUEGRASS MUSIC.

As of last month, the HISTORICAL FICTION project I had been working on for a few years (off and on) has been retired. I made this decision for a few very good reasons.

First, I've been working on the project off and on for a period of over five years.

Second, said project was my first book ever. I learned alot, but the book itself was not strong enough to be of any use.

Third, as I mentioned under second, I learned alot--while writing. Like, how the plot I had concocted did not contain enough relevant conflict to carry an entire novel.

Fourth, I submitted the beginning of the manuscript into a competition where several editors and published authors served as judges. They confirmed my thoughts on the manuscript. Case closed.

However...I did begin plotting my next novel during my last school semester. Although I have an interest in Historical Fiction, I've been reading Mysteries since I was old enough to read.

So, I am now writing a mystery. (You know, this plain type font can't convey my excitement about this. Hold on....just a sec...)


I’m Writing a MYSTERY!!!

Ehem...more to come on that soon.

In the meantime, I'd like to announce the completion of THE FOLEY BLUEGRASS BAND's latest CD:

THE PLACE WHERE BLUEGRASS GROWS.

Click on over and check it out...I highly recommend it!