And Now the Fun Begins

            Last evening, my editor sent back the first story in my new book for me to revise. She will make suggestions and look for errors in grammar, spelling, or punctuation. I will make corrections, reword, or rewrite until we are satisfied that the manuscript is the best that it can be. Then she will have someone create a cover for the next in the Tommy Two Shoes series. Since the other covers are photos of Pittsburgh in sepia colors for the other two books, I have suggested that the new cover have a photo of one of the past downtown Christmas tree on it. Once the cover is decided, she will send it off to be printed.

            The reason for the Christmas tree is that the entire set of stories are crimes that Tommy investigates that have occurred near the Christmas holiday and have wonderful names like "What Child is This," "Slay Bells Ring," "Under the Mistletoe," and "Over the River." Each story is an independent, stand-alone tale, but has a gradual progression of thought.

            Since all of the tales occur near the yuletide season, I suggested to her that we name the book "Homicide for the Holidays." She seems to like it, so we will see.

            If other authors can do it and plug their books on FaceBook, so can I. The following are the books that I have had published so far. My editor calls them cozy mysteries and I have been told by some of my readers that they are page turners. When I finished my first book, it ended in a bit of a cliffhanger and I was forced to write the second. Those who read the first kept asking, "What happened to Tommy's abducted brother?" So to answer them, I wrote the second and have been saddled with this retired homicide detective telling me what to write.

            I know some people will laugh, but these characters take on a life of their own. I have thought of an ending and have ended somewhere else, because Tommy says to go elsewhere and changes my mind somewhere in the middle of the story.

            It's time for me to stop with the blog writing for today and get busy with the new book. If you haven't read any of my scribbling, the titles are "Tommy Two Shoes: Form Mountains to More" and "Tommy Two Shoes: Entangled." They are available on Amazon.