MBTA update

      How is Murder by the Acre going? Well, the book is mostly done except -- and that really should be EXCEPT -- for a few problems areas. Particularly Chapter 3, 7 & 9 with small clean-up problems all over the book. I know what should happen in each of those chapters, but so far what I have isn't very good. Well, they're not bad, but they're not as good as they should be. I know all along that those chapters were rough, but I wrote past them, intending to fix them later. It's later now.
      The real problem is Chapter 3. 7 & 9 are basically connected to 3. If I could fix 3, they would or should follow in kind. The clean-up errors are also related to 3. And the trouble with 3 is that I haven't got the story and the murders firmly in hand. It's important that the murders make sense from the inside (the murderer[s]) point of view however baffling they might be from the outside. And currently they don't. I mean, there are motives everywhere, but what drove our killer(s) to finally cross that line? And why did the killer(s) think that the murders would be better than the alternative?
      In real life, murderers often make random and bad decisions -- as we all do -- but in a "cozy" mystery, the murderer is supposed to be clever or very lucky. And since I'm writing the murderer(s), I have to be clever, too. It's like a game with the reader. I want to make sure the readers have enough clues to solve it if they're clever and pay attention. It's like composing a crossword puzzle: you want the clues to take effort, but not be so hard that the puzzle solver gives up in frustration.
      I'm also trying to raise the bar with this book. I want it to be better than MBDD. I want it to be funnier, smarter, more mysterious. I've grown as a writer since MBDD and MBTA were written all those years ago. While I was content to polish MBDD, I want MBTA to reflect my writing and the world now.
      Of course, Ryton is a rural town so it will be behind the curve, but they have cell phones, the Net, and all the other things that mark them as living in this century.
      And I am making progress. Every day the book grows. I learn more about the characters and their lives. There are answers for the problems presented in Chapter 3, and I will write my way to their solutions. I have faith in the process. I have faith in my writing. I have faith.
*      This Friday I will be in Alva, Oklahoma, for a Murder by Dewey Decimal book signing at the grand opening of The Great Indoors. I'm looking forward to it. I'm also nervous. I hope I sell a few books and get MBDD into more hands. The more people who read it, the more word of mouth is generated. And that's the best advertising.
      I still have a handful of book plates left. If you want one for your copy of MBDD, please let me know. Oh, and you can order an autographed softcover copy of MBDD directly from me for $21 (book $16.95 and postage and box $4.05).
       E.T.C., Crystal, and Gloria all posted reviews of MBDD on Amazon.com and/or Barnes & Noble.com so they will be receiving the first chapter of Murder by the Acre soon by snail mail.
*      We had an absolutely good time with Mikey. And I was told quite seriously that I was his "best uncle." I'm no relation actually, but I'll take that designation. I just hope his real uncle never hears about it! (Sorry, Todd.)
*      The cold is really kicking my butt. So I think I'm going to take my beaten behind and go to bed. Talk to you tomorrow.