Instead of typing in the latest of the stuff I’ve been writing (yes, my medium of choice is pen or pencil and paper ie no internet distractions) I decided we were due for a blog post.
I’ve been thinking about the rewrites for Interview with a Dead Girl. It’s going to be such a different story that I’m not sure it’s not going to need a new title and cover. The characters list is pretty much the same, Natalie at this point is a supporting character, not a point of view / main character making April the only POV character. Natalie maybe even the subject of the investigation of the second or third book. The villain is the same and I’m trying to get him on scene much earlier but April is trying to investigate him without his knowledge.
Maybe Betareader Vic is right. Maybe I do have enough for three or more books. He pointed out what I’d been avoiding, the little thought in my head since I started the story more than a decade ago. That I created April and didn’t make her a newbie with very little knowledge of the world I threw her into. I made her a werewolf with a tragic backstory and PTSD. That might have been fine if I hadn’t also made her a necromancer/witch while being an investigator for the FBI. That would be perfect for a book later in the series.
Doesn’t that lead us to a new title & cover right? Yes. But, April isn’t a werewolf anymore. She’s still a witch but she isn’t oblivious of all of her abilities, only the Necromancy. She is untrained with the fire magic.
Maybe the first book is about finding Laura, the second catching Natalie’s killer which is the same person who took Laura- ending book one in a cliffhanger and the third to solve another related murder. I’m starting to think about changing the rules for the types of characters. At this point, only half or less of what I’ve got done is part of the original story.
I have another problem. I’m trying to make April learning her magic a subplot because I don’t think it needs a story of its own.
I guess I’m still undecided and I need to consider plotting instead of pantsing my way through this story. On that note, maybe I should go listen to Chris Fox’s Plot Gardening book again.
Did I mention I picked up Audible? I was on the fence for so long because I love listening to audiobooks in my car but the cd player doesn’t function so well anymore and my car predates Bluetooth. It has an aux input but the sound quality sucks when connected to my phone. I’ve seen a Bluetooth connector for cars but I want to make sure the sound quality doesn’t suck. I was also worried that I’d never listened to podcasts because I was wrapped up in a book but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I’m anxiously waiting for next month when I get a new book because now that I’m not relying on the limited urban fantasy paranormal selection at the library my list of books I want to listen to has grown by leaps and bounds.
Merry Christmas, Happy Yule, Happy Holidays from a little town in Nebraska. See you next year. Maybe next week if I feel the need to write another blog post.
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