Release of "Murder Haunts Myrtle Beach" on Amazon

The latest murder mystery, "Myrtle Haunts Myrtle Beach," in the Rachel Christie Murder Mystery series is now going through final edit and will be for sale next week on Amazon. For some reason, this book took twice as long to write as the others and was much more difficult. Possibly, it was because I put even more of myself into the book than usual and parts were quite emotional for me to write.
     
Over the last seven books, I have found that seeing the story in a different format helps find typos and spelling errors, as well as some plot problems. I suppose that seeing it over and over in the same format, I tend to skip over things. So, I sent a copy to my Kindle and reviewed it there. As the another step in editing, I have just printed the book in paperback form on CreateSpace. Both of these methods help spot errors which I wouldn't have found if I had only reviewed it on the PC, even using spelling and style checkers. I also cooperate with another author and we review each other's books. That puts another set of eyes on the book and helps to find areas where the wording does not flow well or where the facts were obvious to me but not to someone not so familiar with the plot. The last thing is the final edit by an outside source.
     
Following is a brief synopsis of "Murder Haunts Myrtle Beach."

Private Investigator Rachel Christie is thrown into a case where her emotions rage out of control. She has solved difficult crimes in the past, but this time it's different. This time it's her lifelong best friend who is stabbed and is sent to the ICU. Her reasoning ability is clouded and her moral compass is smashed. Her emotions, more than ever, control her actions. The clues lead her from Myrtle Beach, a thousand miles away, to a seedy gentlemen's club in Houston and to her buried and forgotten past. A past that's not what she remembers. A past full of drugs, human trafficking and murder. Can she control her emotions enough to uncover the assailant of her friend or will she, too, become another victim?

I want to thank my readers for their loyalty and for their patience.

First Editorial Review of New Book

First Editorial Review of New Book

Today, I received the first editorial comments for the seventh book in the Rachel Christie Murder Mystery series. Now comes the hard part of re-writing to give the work a more polished presentation. However, this is only the initial phase and it will be the first re-write. I will have more editorial comments and re-writes after this, I'm sure. Writing the book is a hard feat in itself, with the days and nights (yes, sleepless nights) thinking about the plot and letting all the nuances solidify into a believable story with several subplots that work well together. However, I feel that having to do the re-writes is even more difficult.

In writing the book, I only had to worry about getting the ideas on the page. With re-writing, I have to make sure each sentence has all the words it needs and only the words it needs. Each paragraph has to have all the sentences it needs and only the sentences it needs. Pages and chapters are the same. Anything not necessary to the plot or description is weeded out. Descriptions are difficult for me because I want to include enough to give the reader the feeling of being there, but not enough to get boring. Too many books spend too much time describing what we already know. As they say, ''A rose is a rose is a rose." No need to go into great detail or describe the scent. Everyone knows those things.

I have always hated re-work, even as a project engineer. To do the job first, with no revisions, is only a dream I can wish. With writing, I want my characters to be distinct and to be worth reading about. Above all, they have to say and do things that are consistent with the personna that has been created for them. Having a series with the same characters means going back and re-reading the previous novels to be sure that the present novel and characters follow along the lines that the readers expect. It is also important to  give the characters growth. They should all change because of their experiences. My characters see a lot of action and they should change accordingly.

The Next Book

The Next Book

The first draft of the seventh book in the Rachel Christie Murder Mystery series has been completed, finally. It was difficult for me to write because it dealt with a group of characters I felt emotionally attached to, from the suave and sophisticated playboy to the normally cold and hard sheriff. They all showed their soft insides and I had to feel sorry for them all. Normally, rational Rachel lost her cool more than once and faced more dangers than she had before.

Now, the book is with the editor, but thankfully it is being reviewed as I write this blog. Also, the book cover is in the initial stages of being designed. Hopefully, the novel will be released sometime next month. Of course, that depends on how many rewrites I will have to do.

Editing of New Book

Editing of New Book

I just received my latest book in the Rachel Christie series back from my editor today. Now, I will re-read the book to see if I agree with his comments and see if I will either change my book or argue. He usually has good comments and his changes and recommendations are accepted. But, each author has the responsibility to keep their book their own. My name is on the book and it has to be written my way. If the book is bad, I have no right to blame the editor.

The one good thing about my editor is he helps with keeping my characters in character, always checking for inconsistencies.  Rachel Christie is a strong woman, but not too strong. She never curses and she doesn’t take advantage of anyone. She has honor and respectability, mostly. She is also a woman with many different feelings. Since she doesn’t curse, I have to find other ways of showing how upset she is. So that has to be taken into account. Other regular characters in the series have their own characteristics and they must be consistent, too. Each time I write a book in this series it is like getting together with a group of old friends. Comfortable, but challenging to keep each one individual.

If one character, who is normally a calm person, all of a sudden becomes excited or extreme in his thinking, that has to be explained. From experience, readers will pick up on inconsistencies right away and know that something is wrong. I know I do not like inconsistencies in the books I read.

In my last book, “Murder of the Innocent,” my editor intentionally put in several words to make sure that I was reading every single word he had written and not just skipping through. He wanted to make sure I was doing a good job of final editing. He should be paying me. Of course, I picked up on it. I’m not sure if that pleased him or not.

With any luck, my latest book will be available to the public in early November. In the meantime, my other four books are available at Amazon.com or at Barnes and Noble. Those books are: “Murder by the Clock,” “Murder in Emerald Hills,” Murder by Lion” and “Murder of the Innocent.”

Want to Read a New Murder Mystery?

Want to Read a New Murder Mystery?

After months of hard work, my third mystery novel is finished. This book is third episode in The Rachel Christie Mystery Series. The first two are "Murder by the Clock" and "Murder in Emerald Hills." All of these books take place in small northwestern North Carolina towns. All three books are available in eBook kindle format on Amazon or paperback at CreateSpace.

In this novel, "Murder by Lion," Rachel Christie becomes entangled in the gruesome murder of an heiress and philanthropist when she takes a pro bono case from her homeless friend Joe. She gets beaten and drugged by crazed addicts in solving a murder caused by a coverup that has been simmering for the past ten years.

It is a case that plunges her into physical and emotional bankruptcy and it nearly destroys her agency. Her associate Cody is forced to choose between his family and the agency and Rachel must commit to her close friend Ron or to her life as a private investigator.

* * *

The crowd hushed. The air was thick. Not from smoke, but from tension. Then, fingers pointed. People whispered. The old bum staggered across the restaurant floor. He fell to the floor, knocking over a potted plant, but rose again before anyone could move. Two waiters ran toward him, but not before he made it to the far corner of the room. As the crowd watched, homeless Joe and I caught a glimpse of each other at the same time.

I could see things weren't right. Joe was staggering. Joe would never let me see him drunk, so something bad must have happened. Why was he here? Obviously to see me. I jumped up so fast that my chair went crashing to the floor behind me.

My wine glass fell over onto the white, neatly pressed linen tablecloth. As I rushed toward him, he collapsed and fell at my feet, dropping the cell phone from his hand. Before he passed out, he said, in a barely audible voice, "Find her killer, Miss Christie. You can do it, if anybody can."

Draft of Next Book

Draft of Next Book

Today I finished the first draft of my next book in the Rachel Christie Murder Mystery Series. Once I had written the outline, the writing was easy. I had several characters in my book who could be the guilty party and I hope my fans have fun trying to figure out who actually committed the murder.

However, the first draft is only the initial phase. Many more passes and edits will be required before the book will be ready for publication. Just running it through the spell checker will not do it. I have to double check that everything flows and that the evidence is consistent. The same was true with my first book "Murder by the Clock" and my second book "Murder in Emerald Hills."

I would like to thank my fans for their encouraging words and reviews of my two previous books.

Murder in Emerald Hills

Murder in Emerald Hills

A Rachel Christie Mystery 2

After many months of hard work and months of editing by myself and others, I have finally published my second mystery novel “Murder in Emerald Hills.” This is the second in the Rachel Christie Mystery Series with the first book in the series being "Murder by the Clock."

The heroine, Rachel Christie, is a mechanical engineer turned private detective. Her years as an OSHA accident investigator have prepared her for her new life investigating murders. She also brings a lot of baggage to her new job in the form of bad memories of failed relationships. She moved to a quiet town in North Carolina to get away from her nickname “Jinxy.” But it isn’t working.

This novel opens with the heroine, Rachel Christie, in a dark hole. A real hole - a well. Thirty feet deep. Her assistant Cody is nowhere to be found. Her cell phone doesn't work. Her radio doesn't work. Her screaming doesn't work. She can't climb out because the well is too big and a pipe fell on her shoulder. Who did it? Who sent her a bomb? Who filled her desk with black widow spiders? It began as a case of land fraud in Emerald Hills. The chief suspect couldn't possibly do it, says Rachel's friend Ron. Sheriff Hayley has carnal knowledge of Ron but likes Rachel so much she deputizes her. There are too many pieces and they don't fit together. Who will Rachel believe as the bodies begin to stack up? Somebody's a murderer, a clever murderer.

Value of a Free Book

Value of a Free Book


Over the last several months, I have downloaded a number of free eBooks onto my Kindle Fire. I read all but one of them and found that one in five were worth reading. The other four out of five were a waste of time. I've decided to stop reading the free books. Why were these books a waste of time? A big reason is the lack of editing. Too many distracting errors interrupted the flow of reading the book. If people aren't willing to spend the time to edit their book, I'm not willing to spend the time to read it. Free or not.

After reading a lot of posts on forums, I believe that the reading public has come to the same conclusion. In addition, I've seen a number of posts saying that $0.99 is the same as free. Also, a number of posts say that authors should not sell themselves short. How many times have you gone to Wal-Mart and been given a free hammer? People say, if you give away one book in a series, people will buy the rest. But Wal-Mart is good at selling things and they do not give away a hammer to get you to buy other tools.

I have decided not to give away my books or sell them cheap and I've decided not to waste my time reading free or $0.99 books.

Editing New Novel -- Second Time Through

Editing New Novel -- Second Time Through

I just finished writing my next novel today. I am far from finished. I don't know about other authors, but different phases of writing a book brings out different feelings. For me, that definitely is the case. This was the same with my first female sleuth novel, "Murder by the Clock."

I first start by coming up with my idea. When I write my book, I find that I deviate from what my plot was intended to be. The guilty party sometimes changes. I want to give the reader a chance to figure out who did it by the clues I give. I have always hated reading and then, at the end of the book, the author throws out who did it and nothing in the book has given me a clue that it was that person. He just pops up out of nowhere and confesses, "I did it." That's frustrating.

Sometimes my characters want to take control of my book. That's good to a certain point. However, my characters have to be consistent. If a character is unsympathetic toward his fellow man, it is unbelievable when he admits that he loves children or dogs.

My second time through my book requires a thorough understanding of my characters. Consistency is the key.

I find that, as the book progresses, I am more concerned with getting the plot and my ideas written than I am with style or anything else. The second time I concentrate on expanding on the thoughts I have written and in filling in description of the places and events.

I have many more read-throughs before my book will be ready for final editing for typos, consistency in names, spelling, etc. For now, I am satisfied with just reading through my book and making sure that the plot and characters are consistent.


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Writing New Novel

Writing New Novel

I have finally begun writing my next novel. After getting my novel "Murder by the Clock" published, it took about a month before I finally had the plot for my next book finalized. By finalized, I mean the major plot line completed. All of the minute details of the plot are still being formulated as I write the book.

As you can guess, I prefer to have the plot done before I start writing. Many writers begin writing and their plot develops as they progress in their writing of their novel. My mind does not work that way. I need to formulate my plot and the story line before I start writing. That way, when I do start writing, my novel progresses at a fast rate, without getting writer's block. I still find that a few of the major points in my plot require tweaking, but that is an enhancement that I make as I go.

I once saw a Hercules Poirot story where an author wrote Hercules asking him to figure out the ending. Hercules finally and grudgingly solved the author's problem, but most of us don't have Poirot to call upon. I always need an ending to my novel or, at least, two endings before I begin.

Editing for CreateSpace Update

When submitting the latest revision of my book Murder by the Clock, I discovered that CreateSpace's policy regarding proof books has changed.

Previously, a paper proof book was free, including free shipping. Now they have instituted an improved digital preview program to replace the free book. It is possible to use this program without having to produce a print book. If you choose to print a proof book, it could cost between $6 - $8.

How to Edit for CreateSpace Publication

How to Edit for CreateSpace Publication

Following is a checklist I made to help in converting a word document formatted for Amazon to a word document formatted for CreateSpace. This is the procedure I used to convert my book Murder by the Clock. I hope I haven't forgotten anything important.

Start with the Amazon eBook Word Doc File. I usually use Word in 2003 mode. Load the file into Word and do the following:

1. Delete the cover page which eBooks have, but printed books do not. It will be used later to make the book cover.

2. Insert two blank pages at beginning. Keep in mind that books are printed on both sides of the page, so to have one complete blank page in the beginning; you need two pages in Word.

3. Add the first title page. It is plain with no graphics. Just the title and author. Insert another blank page.

4. Leave the title page alone.

5. Add a blank page after main title page, after the copyright page and after the TOC. It looks nice for each of these to be on a facing page with a blank back page. Same for dedication page if you have one.

6. Go through the book putting two inches of space above each chapter title. Three inches is sometimes normal, but it looked like too much on a Kindle. Make sure that each chapter ends with a page break if you didn't have that in your eBook version.

7. Remove the Table of Contents. In an eBook you should have had a TOC without page numbers. That doesn't work for a paper book.

8. Add a footer with page numbers. It's safer to put the page numbers in the center. That way you don't have to worry about which side of the page the gutter is on.

9. Insert a new section after the TOC and restart page numbers from one.

9. Add a new TOC with page numbers. To save time later, move the tab for the page numbers left so that the numbers will be on the page when the pages are resized to the smaller size. I used a five by eight book size. If you have more than one hundred thousand words, consider a larger size.

10. Revise all graphics, including glyphs to 300 dpi and reinstall from the filename, not cut and paste. I have done it with cut and paste and haven't had a problem, but some people claim that it caused them a problem.

11. Go to CreateSpace.com and start a project.

12. Insert title, author, use CreateSpace ISBN and choose book size.

13. Choose the Guided not the Expert setup procedure.

14. Upload your manuscript DOC file to CreateSpace. Note that this was probably originally in an 8.5 x 11 size.

15. As the manuscript was letter size, CS will allow reflowing to the chosen book size. Do not choose to resize the book down and keep the same number of pages.

16. Check the automated reviewer and notice all marked mistakes.

17. Download the DOC file produced in the new size back to your computer. It should have everything correct for page size, gutter placement and others.

18. Load the DOC file into Word and revise the DOC file to fix any important mistakes found in the reviewer.

19. Go to View and set it to view two pages at one time. The page on the left is the facing page; the right one is the back side.

20. For a more professional look, insert a blank page at the end of each chapter if needed to make sure each chapter starts on the left or facing page.

21. Check to make sure no glyphs are left stranded by themselves on a page.

22. Revise TOC so that page numbers are shown on the same line as the chapter name and are not wrapping to the next line, by moving the tab stop "Small L" at the top of the page.

23. On a separate page at the end, put in any back material, such as Author bio, email address, blog address or other books published.

24. Add enough blank pages at the end to have a complete printed blank page, in other words, at least two blank pages.

23. Upload the final version to CreateSpace and rerun the previewer. If you find any mistakes do it again.

24. Download the PDF file and check it for mistakes in format.

25. Now all you have to worry about is the cover. I won't go into that, but it helps to download the template for the number of pages you have.

How Do You Edit Your eBook?

Editing My eBook ‘Murder by the Clock’

No one likes to edit their ebook once it’s been written. It’s over. Publish it. Get it out there. But nobody likes fixing mistakes after it’s published. Bad karma. However, I have read so many Indie ebooks with so many mistakes that I would say “I will not buy another book by that author.” Does that sound petty? I don’t think so. Language is important. Some say, “The Devil is in the details.” Others say, “God is in the details.” In any event, noticing the spelling, punctuation or other details take the reader away from the story. Not good. The story is all important. That’s what we’re selling. It’s like selling bananas. If there are big black bruises, nobody buys. So, it’s important that I edit my ebook ‘Murder by the Clock’ carefully. I don’t want big black bruises.

I did several things to make sure that my book was edited well.

1. I ran the novel through the spell checker. The spell checker may disagree, but make sure that anything it finds is actually OK before leaving it in.

2. I read my book five times to make sure there were no words that the spell checker didn’t catch. For example, duplicate words and words that were correctly spelled but were not the correct word.

3. In reading, I also made sure that quotes were not missing or added where not needed. Likewise, commas.

4. I read ‘Murder by the Clock’ again with action words in mind. Weak verbs make the novel weak. Avoid the word very. Minimize adverbs.

5. I checked that there was at least a space or stars between a change of scenes in a chapter. Nothing frustrates me more than a change of point of view or scene without advance notice. I hate reading a paragraph and asking, “What happened? Where am I? Who’s talking? What happened to the other guy?”

6. I had someone else read my novel. Another two eyes and another brain are always a good addition. It’s even better if the reader likes the genre.

Even after all this, I’m sure that ‘Murder by the Clock’ may contain a few mistakes. However, by doing the above steps, I make sure that fewer mistakes will remain and that my reader will have the best possible reading experience I can provide.