New Series – Joan Hall

Hey everyone. Can I cheat a little this week? This is neither a work in publication or a work in progress (unless you count my character sketches and outline).

I am taking the plunge and participating in this year’s NaNoWriMo. In case you don’t know, November is National Novel Writing Month. The goal (or challenge) is to write 50K new words on a novel.

I did it once before when I wrote Unseen Motives. Thanks to Mae Clair, I’ve decided to do it again. Several writers I know are also participating, and we’re buddying up so that we can encourage one another.

So, what am I writing? Cold Dark Night is the first book of my brand-new Legends of Madeira series. Once again, there will be mystery, suspense, and a little romance. But I’ll also incorporate legends and folklore into the story.

For the setting, I’m moving from the Lone Star State to the Land of Enchantment. Madeira is a fictitious town in New Mexico. Believe me, there are lots of legends in this place. You’ll see a couple of familiar characters from the last Driscoll Lake novel and meet new ones.

Want to know more?

New husband, new house, new town… and a new mystery to solve.

Tami Montgomery thought her police chief husband was going to be the only investigator in the family when she gave up her journalism career and moved with him to Madeira, New Mexico.

But after the historical society asks her to write stories for a book celebrating the town’s sesquicentennial, she finds herself embroiled in a new mystery. And if she can’t solve this one, she could lose everything. Her research uncovers a spate of untimely deaths of local law enforcement officials. Further digging reveals a common link—they all lived in the house she and Jason now occupy.

Tami isn’t a superstitious person, yet she can’t help but wonder if the house is cursed. Then she unearths an even more disturbing pattern. And if history repeats itself, her husband will be the next to die.

To say I’m getting excited about this new endeavor would be an understatement. It will be a busy month, and even though I’m taking a few vacation days, I’ll need to concentrate solely on my WIP.

Toward that end, I have decided to take the month of November off from blogging. I had a few posts already written and scheduled, but will post those in December.

I probably won’t have time to visit and comment on other blogs. I’ll miss you all but I hope you’ll understand.

The race begins in two days. Wish me luck! If you’re participating and would like to buddy up, my user name is joan58. Let’s encourage one another.

Hi, Readers. Most of you know I reached a milestone last month—the publication of the third and final book of the Driscoll Lake series.

It’s hard to believe five years have passed since I began writing the first draft of Unseen Motives. There were many times I thought I’d never complete it—let alone edit and publish. But one book led to a second one, then a third.

Now, they are done. And having never completed a series before, I felt a little lost at first. When you’ve lived with characters for several years, it’s sad to see them go. At the same time, I was relieved and felt a sense of accomplishment.

Then came the blog promo tour, and those in themselves can be exhausting. I’m grateful for those who hosted me and for all those that followed along and left supportive comments along the way.

Afterward, I decided to take a little time off (at least that’s what I planned). But the writer in me couldn’t let go. I’m already thinking ahead.

So, what is next? I have a few ideas.

The first is to put together a book of short stories. Years ago, I did a First Friday Fiction feature on my blog. Some of the stories are in the mystery/suspense genre. Some are one-shots, others spanned a period of several months.

The plan is to take several of these stories and rewrite them. A couple of them I never finished, so I want to do that. To make the book a decent length, I’ll need to write a few more.

I’m also planning my next series. The books will still contain elements of mystery, suspense, and romance, but I plan to throw in a little folklore or legend into the stories. I purchased a journal and have already been brainstorming ideas. The plan is to begin writing the first book in the fall.

Another idea is to revamp the First Friday Fiction stories that I don’t want to include in the short story collection and create a page on my website with links to them. And speaking of the blog, I’m toying with some ideas for a couple of regular features. I’ll write more about that later, if and when I plan to implement them.

I also want to enjoy the summer. My husband has a different work schedule during non-school months, and we are able to spend more time together. Another thing I want to do is catch up on my reading. My TBR list would probably reach to the moon and back (well, maybe across the state of Texas). And it’s forever growing.

What about you? I’d love to hear about your summer plans. Leave a comment.