The Pig Book (also known as Every Rose Has Its Thorn) is doing well on the contest circuit. I feel like it's one of my strongest books, but it's the second one I did in first person voice, so maybe that's why. I felt quite comfortable writing it, and it only took me four weeks to get the draft done, then another couple of weeks to tighten it up. I didn't agonize over it and the words just kind of flowed out.

Then I did One Night of Sin ("Murder at the State Fair") in which a woman's ex-husband is murdered in front of her at the grandstand at the Minnesota State Fair. The idea for that one came to me when we were at the Fair, attending a B-52s concert. The area in front of us was pitch dark and I commented, "Man, somebody could kill somebody down there and nobody would know it."

Voila. Idea.

I had a bit more trouble with the next one (The Brownie Book, also known as The Readjustment Blues). The initial idea was easy: the heroine brings brownies to the company potluck, and somebody dies from poisioning. Then I had to re-think the premise after brainstorming it with my CP (thanks, Kathy!) So I re-tasked it a bit so the brownies were ....

Oops, can't give away the plot. Anyway, the pacing on that one was a off, I thought, and I had to work on it some more. It may need some more work even as we speak, although it did well on the contest circuit.

I've had so much fun with the first-person books I may go back and take a couple of my third-person books and re-do them. I think there's two at least that could be done that way very effectively.

Hmm. So why am I posting here when I could be doing that?

You're right ...

Later.