And so it begins.

So much happens after you finish a book.

Exhaustion. Elation. The myriad book sales and signings. The perma-grin.

And then comes the frantic running about as if you're a chicken with your head chopped off, trying desperately to catch up on life that you completely ignored while you were finishing up with your latest book.

I have more than a dozen blog entries I started and stopped because I ran out of time. Food recipes. Dessert recipes. Photos of the gajillion pieces of candies and cookies and fudge that I made for the folks at the hubster's work. Pics of gingerbread houses of yore. Writing challenges I thought about while basking in the afterglow of having finished book number two.

Hopefully I'll get around to posting them.

But for now, I thought I'd say hi.

Tell you that I'm officially sitting down to start writing number three.

Even though there is still so very much to do with the rest of life.

And it's not as if I actually just sit down and start writing. The planning takes forever and a day. I learned that the hard way when writing book number 0 (the one that is stuffed inside a drawer somewhere collecting dust, no where near being publishable until it is completely rewritten). Planning a murder mystery is insanely challenging. Trying to figure out how the person died, when the people discover the body, who did it. What clues are placed behind. When are those clues discovered. It all takes coordination and planning and thoughtful, careful, deliberate thought.

And now I face a new challenge.

I have two books from the Jack Diamond mysteries published and out there (yay!). But both of those books take place over a period of time. That actual amount of time is never really discussed -- in either book. The first book was written with the strategy that the reader should begin slowly, learning about the case, and then as the bodies begin to pile up and the killer begins to notice Jack Diamond, the pace of the book picks up. As you read further and further into the book, the chapters become shorter and shorter and the book takes on a rather frantic race toward the finish line.

The second book really focused on character development: getting to know the main characters better, diving into their histories a little bit while trying to solve a mystery. Instead of having just one point of view (that of Jack Diamond), this book has three different viewpoints. Jack Diamond, the detective, Marjorie Goverman, the victim, and the killer each get their own chapters with their own points of view throughout the book. By presenting the story with the three variant points of view, the story moved along, keeping the readers on their toes. The final revelation then is created by the merging of the three points of view. From the time the victim disappeared to the time Jack Diamond solves the mystery, several months have passed.

But book number three is another kettle of fish. Instead of days or weeks or months going by in an investigation, the events of book number three take place over the course of hours.

This timeline thus creates myriad problems.

Should this book, like the last, have multiple points of view? For example, do I tell the same story 10 times from 10 different points of view from each of the 10 families who are involved in the story? (I am making the number 10 up here, just for the purpose of this argument. I actually don't know how many points of view there will be.)

Should this book be told solely from the point of view of Jack Diamond?

Should this book be told from the point of view of the victims? Or of the killer?

And if the book is written from someone else's point of view, will my readers still want to read it? Or do readers like to read more of the same. 

The same the same the same but different.

How many people are going to die?

If I have 10 people die, what are their names? Who are these people? What were they doing? Will they be missed? How will they die? Who are the survivors? Who are the heroes? Who is the bad guy? And why did he lose his nutter on the bridge and kill a whole mess o'people?!

Will the book spread out for more than the length of the day of the event? or just for a few hours?

If the book is only one day in length, will each chapter feel sluggish?

Or will it feel too frantic?

Should I break the book out into hours? Like the tv show 24? Should it be broken out by victim? Should it be broken down by going backwards, trying to piece together how everything unfolded? Should it be mixed up completely? Like the book The Time Traveler's Wife? I loved that book. Not as big of a fan of the movie, but the book? It was amazing. So many questions about how to put together this tragedy.

I do believe that it's a completely bizarre thing that I sit around plotting random murders. I think of places to bury victims. I think of different ways people can die. I don't want anything too bizarre. I tend to prefer more run of the mill, ordinary deaths, but with interesting REASONS for why someone died or why someone chose to end someone else's life. And, just so you know, I don't spend all my time on these thoughts. I truly only touch upon them when a new book is starting to sprout inside my mind. Or when I visit a unique and interesting place. Or when I watch a movie or read a book that made me ponder.

I think about my slightly sick and twisted mind that makes me want to write about murder mysteries. I love solving puzzles. I love figuring things out. It's ever so much harder to write a book with a surprise ending than it is to read one. I yearn for the day that I can truly surprise my readers (or myself, for that matter), with an unexpected ending.

So as I sit here, staring at "Insert Cool Title Here," these are just a few things that I will be thinking about over the next little while.

It's time to plot things out.

Make a plan.

Do some research.

It may actually be quite some time before a single word gets written of this book. But for now, it's all about the planning.

So while you're sitting there, sipping your coffee, eating that big ol' piece of chocolate cake with chocolate fudge frosting and cursing New Year's Resolutions, or while you're running on your treadmill thinking whoo hoo, I got this! Just know that I will be sitting over here, listening to my puppy snore, plotting the hypothetical deaths of a whole mess of people and keeping my fingers crossed for snow.

* * * * *

I not only bake and cook, I write murder mysteries too!

Both books are available in paperback and kindle versions

Diamonds for Diamond 
(Book 1 in the Jack Diamond Mystery series)
and
No One Noticed

(Book 2 in the Jack Diamond Mystery Series)