The waiting is the hardest part

Because "The End" is just the beginning of the next stage

Last month, I focused on the joy of writing “The End” on a manuscript.

Except it wasn’t, really. There are so many “ends” in this process, and that was only the first. I reached the second a few days ago, when I hit “send” on the proofed and polished manuscript. Now it’s in the hands of my lovely publisher, Severn House, where editing will begin in September. There will be another “end” after the rounds of edits, still another after the copy editing, and then an even longer wait until publication sometime in 2025.

That’s a lot of waiting.

For someone like me, used to the instant gratification of daily stories in my journalism job, it was a tough adjustment, one that led to a rookie mistake. With my first book, I wasted that time, twiddling my thumbs, waiting for feedback from editors. Weeks, even months, of unproductive time passed.

Now I know better. The day after I hit “send”, I opened up a new fille, creatively named Book Fourteen. And I’m making notes and doing research for a file to be named Book Fifteen.

I don’t have a contract for those next books – yet. But you’d better believe I’ll be ready when opportunity presents itself.

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Book news - well, writing residency and workshop news

A reminder that next month – so soon! - I’ll be the writer-in-residence at Good Contrivance Farm outside Baltimore in Reisterstown, Maryland. In addition to typing away at the aforementioned Book Fourteen during the week, I’ll give a daylong workshop on writing mystery novels, as well as a craft presentation on writing a prize-winning novel. The workshop will be 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28, and the craft talk at 5 p.m. the following Saturday. Sign up here. I’d love to see you!

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Bakes of the month - feeling blue

When we moved to South Jersey last year, the bounty of blueberries provoked irrational exuberance. I hit farm stands weekly, buying them and freezing them in such quantity that there were complaints comments from the other adult in the house about the lack of freezer space for anything else. Those comments resurfaced when blueberry season rolled around again. Hence, blueberry-lemon cake, and a blueberry pie with a lemon custard base and a streusel topping.

Of course, now that there’s more freezer space, it’s time to hit the farm stands again.

What I’m reading: Away over the ocean

One of things I love most about reading is the way it takes you to faraway places. This month’s bedside stack ranges wide and, unusually for me, is heavy on nonfiction.

Friend Mick O’Callaghan’s The Boy Who Kicked the Nun is part memoir, part Irish history, part philosophy and all delightful. O’Callaghan, of Gorey in north County Wexford, personifies a purposeful life, and one well-lived.

Hoof Prints: How Horses Shaped Human History, by William T. Taylor: I was a horse girl growing up, lucky enough to have a pony of my own and, later, a horse. Now I’m limited to books about horses – but Taylor’s Hoof Prints is anything but limiting. He traces the history of horses from the steppes of Mongolia to the plains of North America. I especially appreciate his inclusion of Indigenous perspectives.

The Correspondents: Six Women Writers on the Front Lines of World War II, by Judith Mackrell: I was familiar with the work of some of these courageous women – Martha Gellhorn, Lee Miller, Virginia Cowles – but not of Sigrid Schultz, whose attempts to sound the alarm about the rise of Naziism were largely shrugged off. Too much of this book rings familiar today.

Budapest Noir: Ilona Gets a Phone: The protagonist in Alison Langley’s debut novel is by turns annoying, willful, reality-averse and heartbreakingly hopeful in her determination to wrest a better future from the ashes of her past. I fell in love with her.

The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia: I inhaled Juliet Grames’ The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna, so hopes were high for her sophomore novel. The Lost Boy lived up to its expectations. It’s a serious booklight-into-the-wee-hours read.

Appearances - Bouchercon!

In just a few days, I’ll be going to Bouchercon, the annual world mystery book convention or, as I like to call it, “writer camp.” It brings together writers of crime fiction from around the world, as well as the readers who are our reason for being, and it’s always a high point of my year. 

I’ll be on a panel titled Yesterday When I Was Young: Crime solvers of a certain age – why they are so popular and dealing with their limitations. Kelly Oliver moderates, and panelists include Claudia Hagadus Long, Lisa Q. Mathews, Katherine Black and Karla Huebner. If you’re coming to Bouchercon, check us out on Thursday, Aug. 29, from 4-4:50 p.m. And if you can’t make, by all means, check out their books. 

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Sign me up

I love talking with groups about books or writing in general, either in person or via the magic of Zoom. I also give writing workshops, perfect for libraries and writing groups. Interested? You can contact me via my website or by messaging me here.

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