The title of my new book might be revised to describe this quiet period where you haven’t heard from me for a while. I’ve hadn’t had much to say and I don’t like sending emails that are fluff just to stay on a certain schedule.
I’ve been finishing the 18th book WHERE DID SHE GO? It is the second book in the Michelle Watson thriller series. It’s finished and available on pre-order here. More about the book later.
I’ve been talking with other Indie authors about their writing process and decided to try and change mine. How you ask? I’m going to start writing a book for each series at the same time. So beginning in late December, I’ll start on a Jill Quint series book #13, Damian Green book #5, and Michelle Watson #3. I’ll write words in each story every day. The authors that do that swear that it helps them write faster as jumping between stories makes them more creative. So I’m going to try it. Yes, I know I said I was ending the Damian Green series, and maybe I still will after book 5. We’ll see; it’s all an experiment in productivity and creativity.
Beyond that, I have been doing hard labor by removing pavers (250) by hand in my backyard that were cemented in place. Now I need to wheelbarrow a dump truck load of crushed rock to replace it and then I’ll rent a machine that packs it down. Can you sense broken fingernails and tired shoulders and a back?
I also spent a few days in Las Vegas at a writers’ show. I took a picture of my signing table at the show. The highlight was Carlo’s Bakery. I love watching Cake Boss because he’s so creative with cake. There’s a vending machine between the Bally’s and Paris resorts that dispenses a slice of cake from his bakery. It was delicious and our writers’ group emptied that machine twice a day.
Here’s a YouTube video on the vending machine, pardon any commercials and it’s from Canada, so different prices and cake choices in Vegas. My favorite was the birthday cake.
I also spent time dog-sitting a friends’ dog. My dog is the black and white 90+pound rescue Daniel – he’s a Doberman/Boxer mix, and Joey is the tan 55+pound rescue who is Andalusian Shepard and many other things. I also blame Daniel for some of my slow writing as he is a loud snorer and my dictation microphone picked up his sounds. Sigh
Finally, it’s football season in America. I confess to slow writing while watching or listening to the Green Bay Packer games. In my part of California, masks are still required indoors and my favorite game-watching pizza joint didn’t get NFL Season Ticket as the bandits wanted $10,000/month and his dine-in business was still down due to covid. As there’s another NFL team in my town, I was reduced to listening to the game on the radio for several games this season. Here’s a picture of me in my office writing (a little) while listening to the game on my laptop.
WHERE DID SHE GO? is in the final perfecting stages and will be released on New Year’s Eve. Michelle is partnered with Jason as CIA Case Officers assigned to save just the United States this time from unsavory actions by Iran and Venezuela. Why did I pick those two countries? It was because I saw an article earlier this year that a trio of large naval ships was leaving Iran and thought to be heading toward Venezuela. We were worried that the ships had ICBMs aboard that could reach the U.S. You’ll be happy to know that Michelle and Jason stop a different kind of destruction from reaching American shores. The book is on sale through Christmas Eve at $1.99. It will rise to its normal price after that.
I hope you and your family have healthy holidays and a wonderful New Year.
Cheers, Alec