Maggie Pill Mysteries

  A fan wrote to say she read SLEUTHING AT SWEET SPRINGS in one day. She was ready for the next one and wanted to know when to expect it. You're ready; I'm willing, but here's the thing. It takes a LOT longer to write a book than it does to read it.  First, I need a plot idea. Now, a series is nice because the characters are already there, but they have to do something interesting in each book. I won't write the same plot over and over, and I want it to be a true mystery, with clues for the reader and a logical conclusion. I like the subplots (in the case of the Sleuth Sisters, the grammar thing is big) to be interesting, too. Second, I need time to write it down . The story forms in my head, but the writing-down part always creates problems I didn't imagine. Again, the Sleuth Sisters is tricky because of three points of view. Does Retta know what Faye and Barb did last night? If not, how does she find out? Third, I edit, re-edit, and edit again . I h...

First, the upside of arranging pre-orders of an upcoming book. If an author sets a book up for pre-order, the sales that come before the release date count as sales on that day, which raises the book higher in rankings, which shows it to more people, which in turn generates more sales. In theory, anyway. I'm not much for figuring out the ins and outs of selling more books. I'd rather write more. The downside of pre-orders is my anxiety level. I have to cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die promise I'll get the book done by June 20, ten days before the "official" release date so Amazon knows I'm trustworthy. If I fail, they promise to never let me pre-order again (well, for a year, anyway). I could live with that, but I hate failing, so I won't if I can possibly help it. The problem is I'm waiting for others to do their jobs and hoping that their jobs (editing) won't require too much more work from me (re-writing/fixing errors). When I signed a con...

Releasing May 30, 2016 Since E. A. Poe wrote the first mystery, the genre has been popular with readers. Though most of us will never deal with murder and wouldn't want to, we like peering over someone's shoulder as he or she pokes into a crime, unearthing secrets and eventually the perpetrator. We began with police officers, whose involvement is logical, since they're paid to find out whodunit. The genre soon picked up private investigators, who also get paid but aren't as hemmed in by rules as the coppers. Then came the amateur detective, someone who should be doing something else, like writing novels (Jessica Fletcher) or Miss Marple (making tea?). They're often just plain nosy, but they can also be clever and fun. Of course there are those who are falsely accused, or connected to someone who is, but that usually works only once (unless you're Jessica Fletcher's nephew). Today's mysteries spread across all those lines. There are lots of police ...

I finished the 4th Sleuth Sisters, SLEUTHING at SWEET SPRINGS, earlier this week and sent it to my #1 beta reader, my sister. I've got no cover art yet (sigh), but here are some random thoughts. *It isn't done. Not only will my sister make suggestions (and after that there's the editor and other beta readers), but the time that passes while I'm away from the book will make me look at some things differently. I already have an idea for an addition--just a couple of lines to create humor. *I'm not sure anymore which sister I'm most like. While I didn't base the characters on real life, I do have two sisters and we are quite different in our outlooks on life. I'm not sure which Sleuth Sister is closest to me. Like Barb, I had a good primary career before taking on my second. Like Faye, I've been happily married for years and don't regret anything I've lived through. And like Retta, I can be clueless and shallow, though I'm not stupid a...

Writers are supposed to write what they know, but once you start writing, you realize you don't know as much as you thought you did. I was raised on a farm, so I have a sense of life there, but that was (mumble-mumble) years ago. Things are different now. As the Sleuth Sisters Mysteries go on, I find myself wandering through Fleet-Farm type stores with new interest. "Look!" I tell my husband. "This is how they water chickens nowadays." "Huh,"  he replies. In the Work In Progress, there is real estate fiddling, so I need to know about deeds and sales and Realtor duties (and yes, that has to be capitalized.) I visit an acquaintance in real estate, and he gets me started. When I run into a snag, I call him and he helps me make it work. "Wow!" I tell my husband. "Dan sure knows the real estate business." "Huh." I've mentioned before the friends who help when I write about exotic animals, like the reindeer in B...