Gift From The Sea

In the early 1980s, a work colleague gave me Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s “A Gift from the Sea.” But I worked full time, had a husband, two children, a big house, and was taking an evening college course. I was too busy for quiet contemplation that this book encouraged. Recently, a friend mentioned how much the book resonated with her now that she was older. I pulled out my slightly yellowed “Gift From The Sea.” The introduction reads: “I began these pages for myself, in order to think out my own particular pattern of living, my own individual balance of life, work and human relationships.” Ms. Lindbergh started writing her personal thoughts because she needed to make sense of where she was in life and where she wanted to go. She knew writing helps you make sense of things. That first sentence hit home.

I started my first book, “An Unexpected Death,” because in 2008, I had to make sense of things. The country’s financial collapse put working people out of their jobs, and many lost their homes. Those responsible were not being held responsible. I felt frustrated. A way to deal with my frustration and anger was to write. Little did I know my first book was born out of my strong sense of justice. And that sense of justice I gave to my protagonist, Caitlyn Jamison. And that first book would lead to four more Caitlyn Jamison mysteries. Writing mysteries was not in my life’s plan, but when readers continually ask when the next book is coming out, I had no choice. The characters continued to reside on my shoulder and whisper in my ear. And I had to keep my readers happy! Some books are meant to be read slowly. I will continue to read “A Gift From The Sea” a chapter at a time. Then stop to think about what Ms. Lindbergh’s contemplations mean for me and my writing.

An Unexpected Death

This summer, I decided my first Caitlyn Jamison mystery book, An Unexpected Death, needed a new look. My graphic designer at Six Penny Graphics in Fredericksburg, Virginia, did a great job in capturing Caitlyn as she sets out on her first investigation. When Caitlyn arrived in Upstate New York for her cousin’s funeral, the last thing on her mind was investigating his death. But Caitlyn has a strong sense of justice, and she was determined to find out who caused the death of her cousin. Against the wishes of the local sheriff, Ethan Ewing, she persisted in being involved. At first, she was a thorn in Ethan’s side, so to keep her from going off on her own, he reluctantly accepted her help. He asked her to listen and read the body language of those he interviewed. The result—with her creative mind, Caitlyn became a valuable resource for Ethan. An Unexpected Death is where the adventure begins!

Deja Vu - An Unexpected Death to Imminent Danger

A question every author has to ask when starting a project is: What is this story about? That question has to be asked throughout the writing, because when the plot and characters are developed, the story will change. Revisting the story I started in 2019 (see earlier blog), I asked the question, and couldn't come up with a good answer. I had so many feelings going through my mind. Thoughts and emotions of what we had gone through the last two years. There were too many issues I wanted to touch on and plant the seed for readers to think about. I continued to ask the question: What is this story about? I boiled it down to the root issue. In doing that I felt the similarity of my feelings in 2008 when I started writing An Unexpected Death. At that time I was frustrated and angry over what was happening in our country. People were losing their jobs, and then losing their homes. And those responsible were not being held responsible. I had to release this anger, and through genealogy I'd learned that writing helps you make sense of things. And that's when I started writing. As I honed in on the root problem of the last two years, it was a similar feeling I had in 2008. Write about it, work out the frustration and anger, and plant seeds for readers to think about.

Character Development

A lovely honorarium for my book talk to the Falls Run Del Webb book group

As a first time author I remain humbled by the reaction to my book, An Unexpected Death, its plot lines and characters.

I have a neighbor who has wagged her finger in my face more than once telling me she was so glad I “took on fracking.” I never meant to, really. You might call that an accidental plot line. As a writer, there are times in the process when the characters take over. They develop their personalities and sometimes that leads to plot line development.

The environmental issue came about because I needed to have Nick doing something. And then all these articles started to appear in the Economist and in the local Upstate NY newspapers about fracking. One thing leads to another, and I was able to share information about that process – never meaning to come down on one side or the other. But apparently my characters did.

I gave a book talk to a neighboring active adult community on Wednesday evening. A few women arrived early, so we were able to chat in an intimate setting. It was apparent these women were involved in the story and with the characters. They care (are concerned) about what happens to Caitlyn and Ethan. One woman asked, fearfully, about Abbie and Tim. Is she all right? The answer is yes. I was going to have the couple play a minor role in the next book, but hearing this woman’s concern about Abbie’s health, I may have them play a larger role.

I am frequently asked if I have always written.  The answer they don’t expect is no. Except for genealogy writing, this was my first attempt. I have not taken the traditional writing path.

From the questions asked on Wednesday, I will be reworking my Keynote presentation to include answers to those questions and concerns at my next scheduled talk at England Run Library on October 1.

Thank you, ladies.

Character Bios – Developing their motivations

When the muse strikes, we want to write!  But when the first flurry of ideas wears thin we are left with characters that can display contradicting actions – if character bios haven’t been developed.

Before starting An Unexpected Death I sketched out bios of my main characters. That wasn’t as easy as it sounds. For each person I developed a physical, psychological and sociological profile as well as their goals, revelations, and crucial life choice.  Bios and character motivations are needed in order to provide depth to the story line.

I had over twenty characters in the book, so it seemed like a lot of time and effort to develop these profiles for everyone, because what I really wanted to do was to start writing.

“Your job is to present to us the character and the goal clearly and forcefully fairly early on.”

Nancy Kress, Writer’s Digest, Nov/Dec 2012

And that was okay until some of the secondary characters decided to take on a more important role in the story, and I then needed to determine their key motivation within the story as well as fleshing them out more, i.e. developing their profile. This was an annoying interruption in the writing flow, and I wished I had done it earlier.

It is a given that characters will change/grow during the course of your story. Those who you thought would be static characters might decide to take on a larger role, and for that you have to be ready and know them much better and what their key motivations might be.

In the book, Maddie is the sheriff’s office dispatcher. She was a secondary character with not much description. My first readers asked to see more description of Maddie and suggested she be developed more in the second book. For some reason she touched their hearts, and they liked her enough to want her to play a much bigger role.

And so it shall be.

Coming soon - An Unexpected Death – Available through the Finger Lakes Library System

Mystery readers in the Finger Lakes Library system will soon have two books available to borrow. One has been donated to the Newfield Public Library and another to the Ulysses Philomathic Library in Trumansburg, New York.

An Unexpected Death - Cover and early reports

Some of my neighbors have received their copy of my book,* read it, and commented that they couldn't put it down. That is a great compliment. It means the book's pace worked, and for a first time author, that is a great relief.  Though one husband complained that his wife "couldn't put it down" and therefore he was afraid his Thanksgiving was in jeopardy.  She was able to finish, wrote me a note and added that her husband would be fed!

* In the meantime I still await the twenty copies I ordered :) and keep hoping the UPS truck will stop at our door soon. 

An Unexpected Death; A Caitlyn Jamison Mystery – Published!

This is the photo used for the cover

This day didn’t seem attainable a year ago when I began this novel. The key to success was plot lines I felt passionate about and a writing partner who encouraged me every step of the way. She even provided me with the virtual head slap when I was having second thoughts about publishing at all.

It took two proofs before I felt comfortable to publish. The first one was marked up with all sorts of edits. In the second, I found a couple misspellings, missing end quotes, missing words. Nothing major, but every detail counts when you face careful readers.

Am I a nervous wreck? Absolutely, and I wonder if every first time author feels this way.

It is now up to my protagonist Caitlyn Jamison and Sheriff Ethan Ewing to strut their stuff, solve the crimes and bring justice to Upstate New York. They run into a number of obstacles along the way, but I have every confidence that they will be successful.

My only wish is that readers enjoy the story.

The Seed Was Planted

Sometime in the late 1990s, my sister had a neighbor who was overly possessive of her young daughter. The neighboring family seemed nice enough, but then something went very wrong. One day my sister called telling me the couple had broken up and the daughter was always "sick." The father tried to get help from the pediatrician's office and the school, to no avail. It was a sad situation. 

My sister called me a while later and described what she had learned. She said, "You need to write about this!"

The seed planted that day didn't take root until ten years later. It then took another seven years to grow to fruition. 

An Unexpected Death, a Caitlyn Jamison Mystery is the result. I hope readers will enjoy Caitlyn's adventures as she solves . . . an unexpected death.