Chapter 16 - Bury the Hatchet in Dead Mule Swamp

This book is looking like it will certainly be the longest in the series so far. The story seems to still be growing in complexity, and I'm at 27,000 words.

I like the current twist it's taking. Don't want to give too much away, but I think I'm succeeding at developing multiple suspects to keep the reader guessing.

Here's an excerpt from Chapter 16:

    Lying at an odd angle on top of the carton was a plain piece of computer paper with printing on it. I grabbed a tissue from the packet I kept clipped to the visor and picked it up.
    The note wasn’t hand written, but was printed in a plain font in large capital letters.
    “YOU AND YOUR RICH BOYFRIEND BETTER STAY AWAY FROM THAT OLD SCHOOL IF YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOOD FOR YOU. LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER GUY. A FRIEND.”

You can find the first three Anastasia Raven Stories at Smashwords or Amazon

Chapter 15 - Bury the Hatchet in Dead Mule Swamp

I haven't made much progress on the newest Anastasia Raven mystery for quite a while. But today I got back on track. Re-read everything I have to date, and wrote the next chapter.

Took it to West Side Gang this evening, and for the most part they liked it. Some thought there was too much description in one place and others liked that section particularly well. Some didn't like how much I have to use dialogue to give the reader information. Another said "O.K. as dialogue."

These differences of opinion don't bother me at all. What they do is further convince me that a book will never sink or float on just one paragraph. In the end, when the book is an entity, not broken into chapters that a group hears one at a time, weeks apart, the balance between description and dialogue will sort itself out, and if it needs major editing (slashing) I can do it.

Meanwhile, here's a sample of Chapter 15:

    “Why are you so jittery, Ana?” Adele continued. “I’ll tell you what I think. You’re dating him!”
    “Not really.”
    “’Not really!’ What does that mean? I saw the way he was looking at you in the car. There’s certainly something going on between you.”
    I couldn’t tell Adele the whole truth. She’d blab it all over. “We did go out for dinner. He wants me to help him plan a community event.”
    “Hell’s bells. You don’t expect me to believe that do you?”

You can find the first three Anastasia Raven Stories at Smashwords or Amazon

New Writing Site- Bubblews

I've started writing at the site called Bubblews. The basic idea is a social-based platform to make connections. The site shares advertising revenue with the writers. It's based on views and interactions and number of posts.

The good parts are: There are no grammar police. You won't be docked if you don't get a comma in the right place. You can write and connect as much or little as you want. You can write about what you want to.

The bad parts are: With those loose rules, there is a lot of really bad writing. But it can be ignored. If you want to do well monetarily you will need to connect with others and follow their posts- read "spend time."

Some people are using it sort of like a blog platform. Others are writing product reviews, news items, or general articles.

You can cash out at $25. Some people are making $25 a day. That would be a living wage for me. I'm not there (yet?), and I don't think I could manage being that social. But I am making a dollar a day by posting one article a day.

If you'd like to try it out, sign up through me at my Bubblews referral link. It earns me a few cents and doesn't obligate you for anything.

One can never be sure how stable these online writing sites are, but some people have cashed out over $1000 dollars. I'm liking that!

Disappointing

 
A month or so ago I entered a short story in the first-ever venue for writers at the Grand Rapids Art Prize. I entered a story I like a lot, and it's about as close as I'm going to get to literary fiction, which I call the "life is a sad enigma" genre. Anyway.

It cost money to enter, and I thought hard about spending it. But I decided that the potential payoff would be high. So, I sent in my story, "Two Minutes of Water."

Just heard today- I didn't even make the first cut. "After careful consideration we have decided that your story does not meet our qualifications."

Phooey. But it's not the end of the world.

Interview on Interlochen Public Radio

You can listen to an interview with me, broadcast on Interlochen Public Radio, and hosted by Aaron Stander. His show is "Michigan Writers on the Air," and the original broadcast was February 27 and March 2. Now the program is free, on the web for anyone to listen to.

The interview is focused on North Country Cache, by book about hiking the North Country National Scenic Trail. We talk about the trail itself and my experiences on it, then I read an excerpt from the book.

My segment of the program is 30 minutes, at the beginning. Enjoy!

Michigan Writers on the Air

Chapters 13 & 14 of Bury the Hatchet in Dead Mule Swamp

Slowly but surely, this manuscript is progressing. I've been working hard on a chapter-by-chapter "outline" of the plot. I'm still missing a couple of key pieces, but I have enough to keep forging blindly ahead for a while. I suspect the missing pieces will fall in place. They always do, right? If not, I suppose authors would have to abandon their stories.

I'll be in the car a lot this next week. That's often where I manage to dream up good sections of plots. I have high hopes.

Meanwhile, enjoy a snippet of Chapter 14:

    I closed my eyes and tried to nap, but sleep didn’t come. I finally quit trying, but we continued to wait silently. Apparently neither of us could think of anything to say. Jerry fiddled with his cell phone, but I couldn’t tell if he was playing a game, texting someone, or making notes for a news story.
    A city truck pulled up at the end of the block and removed a small cover plate from a pipe at the curb. He inserted a long bar with a handle in the opening and began twisting it.
    “Nothing like an emergency to get the utilities turned on in a hurry,” Jerry said dryly. “If I work this right, maybe I can get the city to pay for the boiler inspection too.”

You can find the first three Anastasia Raven Stories at Smashwords or Amazon

Four Winners of News from Dead Mule Swamp

There are now 400 likes of Anastasia Raven Mysteries on Facebook. As promised I will give away four copies of News From Dead Mule Swamp. These winners are chosen from the list of people and pages who have "liked" Anastasia Raven.

Due to Facebook regulations, I'll be changing the way I give away free books and other items, but more about that at the end of this post.

Here are the numbers from Random.org:

You'll have to take my word for whose names the numbers correspond to, but I have no reason to cheat, since I don't know any of these people personally. That's great, if they claim their prize, because it might result in new readers! If any of them already has this book, I'll offer them a different e-book of their choice.

Here are the winners (in no particular order):
Select-O-Grafix, LLC
Adriana Ryan
Leah Diane Hutchinson
T.M. Franklin

Please contact me at AnastasiaJoyRaven@gmail.com to receive a coupon for your free book. Let me know if you already have News from Dead Mule Swamp and prefer a different ebook of mine.

From this time on, all contests will be managed through the MailChimp list. You can sign up at
MailChimp email list
to receive advance notices of books, coupons and special freebies.

This actually is more beneficial to everyone, because there will be a lot more benefits than just an occasional free book for a few people. No spam ever. No one else can grab the mailing list because it's managed by Mail Chimp.