New Beginnings?

My Autumn Garden

A few weeks ago, I listed our home quarter for sale on Facebook. Yes, this is the home quarter I lovingly describe in Grounds for Murder. It has been in my family since the 1930s and I’ve lived there with my husband for fifty years. But neither of our children want the farm. And although I still love my house and beautiful gardens, I want to move before I am too old to create an interesting new life somewhere else. So, sell I must.

In the meantime, I tend my gardens. Adequate rainfall has ensured a bumper crop of vegetables and has kept the flower garden looking good late into August. If we can sell this fall, we’ll end our tenure on a high note. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Uncertainty, however, is the theme of my summer. After six months of waiting, I’ve yet to hear back from any of the publishers to whom I sent A Clear-Cut Case.  So, I reread the manuscript. Decided that it needs more work. And started on yet another round of revisions.

I don’t know why the flaws weren’t more apparent six months ago—although perhaps I needed that distance in time to see them more clearly. Whatever the reason, I’ve embarked on a substantive edit that will involve adding an important new character and making major plot revisions. The result should be greater complexity and, I hope, a more saleable novel.

Starting in mid-September, I will take part in the Community Police Academy offered by the Saskatoon Police service. The program runs one evening a week for ten weeks and is designed to give community members a better understanding of the work of its various units. It should be a wonderful opportunity for a crime novelist, and I look forward to it immensely.

My adventure in this program, along with the experience of doing another substantive edit, will inform some of the content of my upcoming talk at the North Battleford Public Library. I’ve titled it “Making Up for Lost Time: On Embracing the Pleasures and Pain of a Late-in-Life Writing Career.” The talk will be supplemented by a reading of my short story “Attaining Grace” and by an excerpt from A Clear-Cut Case. I’d love to have you join me at 2 pm on Saturday September 26.

Warm regards until next time,

Betty