Transitions 2

Tango Surveying His New Domain

The worst part of being a writer is finding a publisher. Preparing submissions is time-consuming. The writer waits months for a reply.  And since publishers accept only a tiny percentage of the manuscripts sent to them, the odds of rejection are high.

Problem is, there are no alternatives. Not unless you self-publish. My lack of marketing skills makes that a bad option. So, I’m sending A Clear-Cut Case out into the world.

I’m also preparing for a workshop on “Writing Your First Mystery Novel” co-sponsored by the Saskatchewan Writers Guild and the Regina Public Library. It will air via Zoom on Saturday, April 25 from 2:00 to 3:30 pm.  The workshop will walk participants through my writing process, from planning the novel to copyediting and proofreading. Given the time limitations, my emphasis will be on planning. Which is a very important and sometimes overlooked first step in writing a novel.

The timing of this workshop works well for me. I have just started to plan my third Jeannie Wolfert-Lang mystery. While I make notes for my presentation, I will follow the process I’ll outline to workshop participants. By mid-April I should have much of my novel planned and be ready to start writing. Talk about a win-win situation!

The other serendipitous event in my life is the move to Saskatoon. That city will provide much of the setting for my next novel. And living there will enable me to research urban food systems, which will form the thematic background for my work.  Doug and I will return “home” to our farm to garden this summer. Dividing our time between the two places may be untenable in the long run, but we’ll try it out for now. If nothing else, it will have the virtue of echoing Jeannie’s situation as she juggles the demands of both rural and urban life. Follow my story on this site to see what happens!