CRIME ON MY MIND

Tracking the killer!

I found a killer today! This morning. While walking. It came to me. I know who the killer is in my new book! Hooray...this murder is solved much sooner than my other ones have been.

Of course, that could all change before the book is actually sent to the publisher for Sept. 1st.

But for now, I'm relieved. I'm crediting this to the fact that I have a synopsis due next month. Now, I've always written a synopsis while the story has been totally in the planning stage. And, by the time the book is finished, there's not necessarily a lot of resemblance to that synopsis.

This time, I've started the book and have already been faced with a conflict between my original proposal and what's happening on the page. What the synopsis shows is an amalgamation of these two ideas and from there, the plot seems to be coming together. You notice the 'seems to be'. I firmly believe that just because it's written down, doesn't mean it's written in stone. Ideas change, plots change ...they are very organic.

But to have the killer, the motive, and the clue that leads to the 'reveal' ... this is heartening and will hold those ever-hovering writer's doubts at bay for awhile.

It's an exciting process and one I hope to be well into before those dreaded edits come back for the first book. It's fun to be back in the town of Ashton Corners, Alabama and be visiting, ok, interfering in the lives of Lizzie Turner and her friends. You get used to this world you create, where your mind dwells for many hours each day...and sometimes dream about.

So, here's to all who may be hot on the trail of murderers today...have you caught yours yet?


Linda Wiken/Erika Chase