As I promised last week,
here’s the final cover for Secrets in
Storyville. The book is a standalone mystery completely different than and
separate from my Malone mystery series.
Writing this book has
been an eye-opener for me in many ways. Because this was the first novel I’d
ever written in the first person, I made a few mistakes. For example, when one
of my beta-readers finished reading it and gave me his feedback, I was shocked
to see how many times I, as the author, had intruded on the story. Phrases like
“Trust me” and “You wouldn’t believe” needed to be cut immediately – and they
were. I was also appalled to see how many exclamation points I’d used. Mary
Higgins Clark may be the “Queen of Suspense” but I deserved the title “The
Queen of Exclamation Points.” That was something else I needed to – and did – fix.
While I loved the
characters in my Malone mystery series, I had so much fun creating new ones and
getting to know them. Plus, after writing five books set in “real” places, it
was an adventure to set the story in a fictional town, a product of my
imagination, where there were no geographic or historical limitations.
Because there are so many
“firsts” with this book, especially the fact that I’ll be self-publishing for
the first time, I’m as nervous and apprehensive as I was when I sent my first
book, Mixed Messages, to my
publisher. I didn’t know what to expect then and I feel the same way now. But,
I’m also excited and eager to hold the book in my hands. I’ve rewritten, edited
and revised my manuscript more times than I can count and, like a mother bird,
it’s time to push my baby from the nest.
