And there we have it. Another week gone by in a flash.
I didn’t do a great deal yesterday other than cogitate all day over cosy mysteries.
I had a look at THE SECRET OF WHITEHORSE FARM, only to find I have the entire storyline outlined by hand in a notebook. I know I have a lot of words already written for this too. I have 2 lots of material for it and I was trying to combine it all in one file and I think I went off at a tangent, getting stuck when Nettie arrives back home from more than a decade and a half away.
Next time I get stuck, I really ought to carry on with this consolidation. It’s an easy copy typing job for the older material, although I do edit as I type.
I did a lot of thinking for the Halloween novella, finally coming up with a title: THE HAUNTED HOUSE HOTEL (with help from the poet). I’d had a play earlier in the week with book covers, but didn’t really settle on any I like. I prefer to have at least a working cover in place as it aids my descriptions, especially if the cover depicts a character or a place.
I laid out various workbooks, colour-coded per series, and one for the short stories. I use the exercise book to properly outline short stories already brainstormed in my touchy-feely A5 notebook. I’m using exercise books for the cosy mysteries as book bibles.
I started to re-read HOW TO WRITE A COZY MYSTERY by Natasha C Sash. Then I started to read the cosy mysteries I have on my Kindle, falling at every post. So I had a whinge on yesterday’s blog, to which two of you responded with suggestions. Thank you! I bought 3 new books: HERE COMES THE BODY, Maria DiRico; CLAMMED UP, Barbara Ross; and STILL LIFE, Louise Penny.
After skimming through the opening pages of all of them, I settled down to read the DiRico. So far, so good!
Following a disturbed night, during which I was waiting for the poet to come home from Ireland (he got in at 4:05am this morning!), today started late. I read a bit more, then played around with book covers again, this time adding 2 to the Nettie Campbell mysteries: HALLOWEEN AT WHITEHORSE FARM and CHRISTMAS AT WHITEHORSE FARM, both of which will be shorter than the other 3 in the series.
The picture above is of boxing hares sculptures. The picture below is of the Neverland huts. Both pictures were taken at Mother Shipton’s Cave on our way home on Friday.
Have a great weekend!
I really enjoy that series, and I like Barbara’s series, too. Barbara is part of a group blog of cozy mystery writers called The Wickeds: https://wickedauthors.com/
And Maria/Ellen is part of Chicks on the Case:
https://chicksonthecase.com/
Those blogs might lead you to other cozy mystery authors you enjoy.
I really like Louise Penny’s Gamache series; I’ve been reading it since the first book, and I like how it grows (although it’s definitely not cozy, it’s procedural). She is one of the few authors who can make 3rd omniscient work, in my opinion. She doesn’t really head hop; she kind of slides into neutral space as she moves from POV to POV.
What great photos!
I was really drawn to reading the Penny first, as it was really intriguing and atmospheric. But I had an inkling that the other two might be cosier, and as that’s what I’m studying… I can hardly wait to start STILL LIFE, though, and keep having to check myself and read one book at a time.
I don’t mind omniscient at all, so long as it’s done properly, either with proper breaks between heads or omniscient consistency. That other author couldn’t make up her mind and was very clumsy.
I hope you enjoy Still Life when you get to it! Louise Penny is one of my favourites (and a fellow Canadian!)
I’m certainly looking forward to it! Thanks for the recommendation.