It ain't just the characters who suffer . . .

I've heard it said that the best part of the book for the author is writing THE END.  I've also heard that "getting into the book" is the worst part of writing.  When you're not sure where it's going and wish you were already done.

Uh, I'm at the latter stage right now.  I'm working on the 6th Booktown Mystery, MURDER ON THE HALF SHELF, and right now it's no fun at all.  However, the other night I was thinking about the book and all kinds of fun stuff to write came to me.  Luckily, I had a pen and a pad of paper handy and wrote it all down.  Wow, I thought, now I'm in business.

I can see where the book is going and I think it has the potential to be the best book of the series.  There's a LOT of conflict, and conflict is what makes a great story, no matter what genre you're writing.

But . . . I have to get to all those big scenes. That's the painful part.  I have to figure out all the connections that need to take place before I can get to those pivotal scenes.  That's drudgery.  And they can't read like drudgery, or you'll toss the book aside and go onto something else.

I've got the first three chapters pretty well established, and now I have a bunch of disconnected scenes along with my road map of where the story is going to go.  Time to put in the hours and start writing all those connections.

By the way, there's going to be a BIG pay off at the end.  A cliffhanger--ohhhh I can't wait to write that.  But I'm going to save it until the very end.  Another reward for bringing the book to that point.  I'll finish up the book and then I'll have to wait six months after that to write the next one (that'll be painful, keeping the first scene of the next book on ice for all that time.  (But don't worry, during those six months, I'll be writing the third Victoria Square mystery--and that one should be a lot of fun--for the readers.  I'll be struggling for the first 40,000 words with that one, too--but I already know how it ends.  Ohhhhh, can't wait to write that scene, either.)

Don't think I'm complaining, because -- okay, I am, sorta.  This is a great job and I love it.  I just wish it was all smooth sailing.  Then again, didn't I say great conflict made a great story? 

And by the way, with that title, you just know someone's going to be eating oysters in this book, right?  Now, who should it be?   Care to make a suggestion?  I'm all ears.