FORENSIC MURDER is finished and just waiting for its release date of November 2. It has been wildly popular with pre-orders. I hope that everyone loves the story as much as I do. There are places in the story that I didn’t visit during my vacation there, and I long to go back. With the Covid pandemic quarantine, I haven’t been farther than about twenty miles from home since mid-March So, Australia and New Zealand seem like a far-off fantasy.
November is a special month for writers. It’s called NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo is a non-profit, and it’s free to do. The goal is to write 50,000 words, or a short novel, during the month of November. Writers from about 150 countries worldwide participate. This year, there will be more than 300,000 writers, and I will be one of them.
I’ve known about NaNo for several years, but the timing was never right. I didn’t want to try doing NaNo on top of a work in process. This year, I’ll be starting on my 12th Jill Quint series book on November 1. That book is called EMBERS OF MURDER, and the story will be set in California. The criminal in this story will mix wildfires and murder. If all goes well, it will be ready for publication in February of 2021.
I think I’m finished with writing the Damian Green Series, but the Jill Quint series will continue until I run out of ideas. However, I am thinking about a new series. Recently, I’ve read some cozy paranormal mysteries. If you’re not familiar with that sub-genre, it features druids, witches, vampires, fairies, and other magical creatures inserted into a human world. I generally avoid books featuring vampires, shapeshifters, and zombies. There are other magical creatures and settings in which to create a mystery. The stories are classified as cozy paranormal mysteries as they occur in the present time and seem to be set in small towns. The amateur detectives are the magical characters in the story. These characters and settings differ from the Fantasy genre, which is often futuristic, often on another planet, and every one has special talents.
First, though, I have to build the town/world where this mystery occurs before adding my magical creatures. I’ll work on that world while writing EMBERS OF MURDER.
I hope everyone has safe and healthy holidays,
Cheers,
Alec