Twice the Crime This Time

 Writer brains are weird. I had no intention of playing off the title of Book 1, Once Upon a Trailer Park, in the rest of the series, but it seemed inevitable to follow Once with Twice.

That meant two crimes, so I came up with a cold case and a current one. Such stories require balance, so I needed lots of help to keep the details straight and both cases moving along.

This is where long-time readers are a blessing. Many of them will read a rough (sometimes really rough) draft and make suggestions to help clarify events and pinpoint characters' motivations. It's hard to find readers who do this well. Many read purely for enjoyment, so they don't look for flaws in a story. A writer needs someone who reads with a critical eye--not to nitpick, but to tell her where the story cracks open because something doesn't add up.

I read a mystery recently where a nationally known radio host revealed the name of a person she suspected of murder on her show without the slightest bit of evidence. That stopped my enjoyment of the story, because no reputable journalist would do that. If she'd been some irresponsible hack, okay, but this was the protagonist, and she did it knowing she had no proof. If I'd been her beta reader, I'd have suggested she find a different way to move the action forward.

Twice the Crime This Time follows two crimes at the Beautiful Bird RV Park. One is a Vietnam-era murder; the other is an irritating, present-day Peeping Tom in the park. Our group of winter friends take on both crimes and therefore receives double the trouble. This book is available here for $2.99