I’m not sure how this happened, but this year so far, I’ve been juggling three books at once, and it’s crazy. Here’s what’s going on with each — the big news is at the end.
Willful Obsession: This is the novella that started the Lake Waluga Cozy Mystery series. It takes place in February 2024. Since my ideal audience is middle-aged to senior women (thankfully I have male fans too), I created a large print version.
Our local library has rows and rows of large print books, so this made sense to cater to readers who prefer this format. I educated myself on the guidelines from blind associations, for example. Additionally, the formatting tool I used for the first book couldn’t accommodate a larger font size, so I purchased a new software, and then had to teach myself how it works.
Libraries and bookstores order from a place called IngramSpark, not Amazon, so I got up-to-speed on that as well. Needless to say, formatting a book in large print is not as simple as changing the font from 12 points to 18 points. The large-print edition of Willful Obsession is now available almost anywhere.
Twilight Splash: This is the middle novel of the cozy mystery series, and it takes place during July 2025. It’s been reviewed by my awesome beta readers and is now being edited by a professional editor. She’ll perform copyediting to ensure it’s the best it can be.
Meanwhile, I’m working with the book cover designer to create an eye-catching cozy feel for the novel. I’ll have one more round of editing to do myself before the story goes to the proofreader later this fall. My hope is that this page-turner of a story will be available later this year.
Swirling Truths (working title): This is the third and final novel in the trilogy. Needless to say, I complete the story arcs for all the main characters and tie up all the loose ends from Twilight Splash. Here’s my big news! I just finished the first draft and typed “The End.” Believe me, I still have a long way to go.
Next, this draft goes to my husband, who’s a tough critic. He’ll point out all the “That wouldn’t happen moments,” which I’ll need to fix before it goes to the beta readers. And they’ll give me honest feedback
For example, with Twilight Splash, my betas didn’t think the parents were going crazy enough when their nineteen-year-old son was out of touch for a few days. What did I know? I’m not a parent. I left home at age seventeen, and we didn’t have cell phones back then. I tweaked the plot because they were right — the world has changed.
Swirling Truths won’t be out until next year, but printing those 264-single-spaced pages (double-sided) for my husband was a real yeehaw moment! But alas, I can’t rest on my laurels for long because there is always stuff to do: blog posts, videos, Instagram carousels, marketing copy, etc. to create. A writer’s work is never done. 😉
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