March 2 question – Have you ever been conflicted about writing a story or adding a scene to a story? How did you decide to write it or not?
The awesome co-hosts for the March 2 posting of the IWSG are Janet Alcorn, Pat Garcia, Natalie Aguirre, and Shannon Lawrence!
Someone’s been reading my journal!
When I finished writing my last release, The Ranger’s Dog Tags, I was sure I was done writing the series, The Harmony Duprie Mysteries, and its characters. It felt good. I was ready to move along to a new series and a new challenge.
Then Jake happened.
Jake was one of the secondary characters in the series. Although he appeared in all six books, and attempted to take over a time or two, I never got a good handle on him. It turns out he was waiting for his chance. He wanted me to write his story.
I had my doubts about it and wasn’t sure where he would take me. I figured it would be a short story, and didn’t know what I’d do with it. But, to get him out of my system, I started writing. And it turned into a book.
And I thought, okay, that was fun. But it was a different genre than I’ve written previously, and I didn’t know if it was any good. Or if I should spend time revising it. I wasn’t comfortable with it. Jake insisted.
Then he demanded I put it through a critique group, and it became a stronger story. And nudged me to send it off to my editor. Still, I wasn’t committed.
My cover artist designed a brilliant cover, and I realized I couldn’t put off a decision. Yet, I procrastinated.
Last Saturday, I took the plunge, and revealed a release date in my newsletter. I’m still not 100% sure I know what I am doing. I’m as nervous about this book as I was about my first one. But on April 2, 2022, The Fall of Jake Hennessey will be available.
Since you’ve made it this far, it’s only fair that I give you a hint about what the book is about. So here’s the blurb:
Jake Hennessey deals in selling fine jewelry of an illegal nature. The thrill of getting away with it is his personal addiction. When he hears a rumor about a rare old book in the personal collection of a small-town librarian, he gets the urge to try a new game.
After all, even jewel thieves get bored.
But the librarian, Harmony Duprie, isn’t what he expected and the challenge becomes serious business.
In order to win, Jake’s going to have to play by a new set of rules—and make them up as he goes along—because this time, he’s playing for the rest of his life.
Don’t forget to check out the other authors on this hop. Just follow the links below.
And, as always, until next time, please stay safe.
I’m excited for you, PJ. I think Jake is taking you to a new level in your career. Looking forward to see where that is.
Thank you! I am excited. And nervous, and worried and stressed and a bunch of other emotions. But I’ve committed myself to releasing this story.
Sometimes those characters just take over and won’t go away until you’ve given them attention. In this case, Jake sounds like an intriguing one and I’m sure you’re doing the right thing by following him!
It still amazes me when a character just takes over my writing. Where did this come from? And you won’t rest (or he won’t) until his story is told. 🙂
I had a character do that in the middle of another book from another series! It’s a wonderful problem to have- what book do I work on?
So fun that a secondary character finally made his wishes known, and that you were able to feel him out more! Good luck with this new one.
I had tried to write a short story from his point of view a few years ago, and he wouldn’t cooperate. Turns out, I was better off waiting!
Jake sounds like a great character.
Hope you’re having a great day! My latest blog post has my theme for the April #AtoZChallenge (I’m writing speculative fiction and looking for prompts).
At Operation Awesome we have the #PassOrPages query contest going on (friends or enemies to lovers Romance).
Looks like I’ll be very busy the next few weeks!
March quote: “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” – Mark Twain
The new book sounds really ineresting! It’s fun sometimes to write in a different style and genre.
It was meant to be! And we’ll have book releases about the same time.
It took me over a year to figure that out. Good luck on your release!
Good luck with the release! I love it when a character becomes so persistent that you can’t ignore them any longer.