Book 2!

After a round of revisions, my second book, THE LAIRS, is now in the hands of my agent.

Whew.

The plot of THE LAIRS is less complex than that of THE GALLANT, which made the writing a bit easier, but I used a few structural elements that caused their own headaches.

Where THE GALLANT’s narrative is linear and written in close third person, THE LAIRS features seven POV characters who take the stage in three acts throughout seventy-five chapters, all written in first person. As the plot of THE LAIRS is centered in the world of Victorian-era theatre, the book is written as a play-within-a-play.

Wouldn’t it be nice if I could just sit down and write? But no, I have to meticulously plot everything out beforehand, so I know what happens in every single chapter before I write it. Some say this takes the fun out of writing, but I find just as much fun in the careful plotting. When it’s time for the actual writing, I have a roadmap. Sometimes the characters insist on taking detours at times, but that’s part of the fun too. I ride along and see where they want to take the story, with the final destination always in sight.

So THE GALLANT is now out on submission, soon to be followed by THE LAIRS. (No, they’re not related in any way.)

After writing two books in two years, I decided to take a break and do a lot of reading. A LOT. In the past three months I’ve read nine books that have been lingering on my TBR list. Right now I’m reading ORDINARY MONSTERS by J.M. Miro. Wow!

But I’ve missed writing, and so I’ve started plotting out my third book … I have a tentative title, but I think it’s bad luck to share it too soon. (Let’s just say M— of F—.)

I hope you are reading or writing good stuff this summer!