Book Progress Update

 

We were in the Adirondacks in May for a fundraising hike with our daughter. About every three miles there was an Oasis with water, fruit, and a porta potty. At the second Oasis a woman approached me and said, "How is the next book coming?" The pressure is on :).

I’m embarrassed to see that I haven’t posted a book progress report on this blog since mid-December. So what have I been doing?

The answer is: Writing.

Over the last five months I’ve worked hard to finish the third Caitlyn Jamison mystery. Readers have not been shy about asking how I’m coming on the next book. What they don’t realize is that each book gets harder to write—developing new (interesting) plot line(s), new (interesting) characters, and the challenge of meeting reader expectations. Last week I finished a draft that I felt good enough to share with three beta readers.

Prior to that, I edited the manuscript on my computer screen, had the UPS store run a hard copy (233 8-1/2 x 11 pages), read it aloud, and made notes on items that had to be checked or resolved. I found several overused words: so, able, know, was, photo, think, skeletal. I'm sure there are more, and I will keep looking.

 

I started with the last chapter and put each through Prowritingaid.com software for diagnostics. Prowritingaid caught issues that I hadn't, and I really appreciate the fact it now picks up missing end quotes.

What else?

 

In a previous post I mentioned a new character residing on my shoulder and wanted her story told. The character’s name evolved to “Alaina.” Alaina is retired special ops and lives in Savannah, Georgia. Her former partner draws her back into action and the story takes off. While CJ3 is with beta readers, I hope to make great progress on this new suspense story. It doesn’t have a title, so I’m calling it my Savannah story.

For more information check my website: Memaki.com. I have a blog and Caitlyn’s News on the site.