Where Do We Go from Here?

Got to tell you, being on the outdoor panel at the 2017 Alabama Book Festival was a real joy and honor. My co-panelists, Renee Raney ("Hair, Scary, but Mostly Merry Fairies") and Larry Davenport ("Exploring Wild Alabama"), were fantastic and we bounced off of each other well during the panel and I think our topics were well received.

  

I had a chance to sit in on a couple of other panels and workshops with my favorites being with Dean James (aka Miranda James and the "Cat in the Stacks" mystery series) and Carolyn Haines (the Sarah Booth Delany mystery series). Both are unbelievably talented mystery writers who had a lot to offer us "would-be's". The drive home had me planning on digging out a mystery I wrote several years ago called "Dead Air". It has been tucked away on a hard drive for MANY years now. I was excited to dust it off and give it a once over.

 

One thing I walked away with was that both authors didn't believe in outlining their mysteries, that is unless there is a deadline involved. Most of the time it's "see where it leads to" which contradicts everything I was taught while attending several writing workshops over the years but it seems more natural. Let it flow then come back and tidy it up. And that's how I write.

So, I walked away with a new determination to get my murder mystery back out into the light of day, I'm not confined to just writing about hiking trails and Alabama (that confuses some folks, but more on that in another post). In fact I have three other books in the works currently and now "Dead Air" is back on the list.

"Dead Air" is a murder mystery set in the war years of the early 1940s at a small radio station on the Gulf Coast where the station's star performer is found murdered in one of the production rooms. Her estranged husband, Ralph Bandera, is accused of the murder but the radio station's sound effects or "foley artist", Art Foley - yes, his name is Art Foley and he will tell you it's just a coincidence - believes Bandera is being wrongly accused and sets out to find the real killer.

It's a mix of drama and suspense filled with laughter. I've posted a sample of the first chapter if you'd care to view it. I'd love to hear your opinion of the opening chapter. Mind you, this was the first take not edited in 6 years.

More to come on my new book projects in the weeks to come. In the meantime you can catch up with my latest articles for RootsRated.Com and don't forget, you can catch the latest installment of my podcasts on my website, The latest audio podcast is a little short story about pulling practical jokes as a kid. Enjoy won't you? Till next time...