Tag: Cosy Murder Mystery novel

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Will This Novel Ever Be Written?

carolyncordon

I have a title, a genre, characters, a setting, and some ideas. And at the moment I have something like 30,000 words written. So, I’m writing words, in fits and starts, with Thursdays being when the most of this novel gets written.

Thursday is when my writing group happens, and I use prompts for our writing exercise during the writing group, and the prompt for homework to be presented at the group meeting the following week.

So I read the prompt and I think about how this new prompt will fit into the novel I’m writing. Slowly …

This is certainly not the method of a writer who wants to write a book in six months, it’s probably going to take the rest of my life to get it done, at the rate I’m going. I thought it would be easy, writing a Cosy Murder Mystery. And the actual story comes easy enough.

Sort of, anyway. The plot points needed for this particular genre aren’t natural to the way I write, I think that may be my problem. I love the characters and the setting, and some of the ideas I’ve had. It’s just difficult getting all of the things that have to happen, actually happening …

But I still feel I could get it moving, if only … If only I had a month, where the only thing I had to do was write this novel. But there are always other things that feel more compelling to me, than the writing of this novel …

The fact that I already have people wanting to read this novel, you’d think that would be enough. But there are always other things to think, and do. Some are must do things, others want to do things.

So I’m not guaranteeing anything, I’m just hoping it will happen. Sometime. This year? Next year? When I’m sixty-four? Who knows? I sure don’t. The idea of being a Cosy Murder Mystery writer was so appealing, and I thought it would be easy.

But it is nowhere near as easy as I thought it would be. And I’m more a poet and short article kind of writer, and my longer books have been not genres with well known rules that the readers of them expect from the author. I can do that kind of book.

But I’ve tried romance writing, and just couldn’t write that, is murder mystery going to end in the same way, with me saying no, I can’t write that? I have written more murder mystery than I ever did of the romance writing style, and there is a bit of romance in this Cosy Murder Mystery I’m writing …

But if I never finish this novel, at least I’ve given it a go, and the world won’t end because I don’t get it written, and published … I’m getting my new poetry collection published later this year, and that is definitely a book I feel I can be proud of!

So maybe I should just stick to writing poetry? But I love the characters in my novel, and I want to know what happens, so … Who knows?

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Making Plans, Mind and Body …

carolyncordon

I have things happening, in my life, good things, relating to my life as a writer. Some of these include a new poetry collection almost ready to be submitted for possible publication, the Covid-19 related anthology I requested pieces for, and is getting ready to be published by me. And another thing is the Cosy Murder Mystery I’m writing.

There are issues of the mind, my mind, that have had a little misstep recently, and caused me a little angst, but I’m working on that, and it’s OK, if not fantastic. I suspect I’m too accustomed to my life cruising along well these days, and the little ‘speed bump’ I had to travel over may have ‘discombobulated’ me, somewhat … The rest of my life is looking good still, though, and that is enough, for me, for now.

And one thing I’m extremely pleased about is that I am sticking with my exercise program, and have added a new exercise that I hope I will be able to keep on with, for as long as we have the lovely mild weather South Australia is having at the moment. This exercise is one that really gets my heart pumping!

All of these things are important, so I’ve begun leaving notes about some of them on my calendar, particularly notes about my weight, and details about what exercises I have done every day (if I actually do any, which I’m happy to say I have been doing!)

It would probably be a good idea to look more closely to the actual ‘writing’ part of my life, to help me keep on track with getting everything happening … The poetry collection and Covid anthology, they’ll get done, for sure, but this novel, even though I’m still getting little snippets written, that isn’t adding enough words (or story) happening.

When I had the idea to write a Cosy Murder Mystery novel, and in fact become a Cosy Murder Mystery writer, I get so excited about it! I came up with an amateur sleuth, and a little town for her to solve her murders in, and some other characters too, to fill the town. It all felt so much fun, and I came up with a sizable list of book titles (20 of them), with a little bit about what each of the books would be about.

So tick, tick for that, but sadly, this first book is taking longer to move along than I’d hoped. And I now thinking, is this fact a sign that I’m not committed enough to my new life as a Cosy Murder Mystery writer? Is the idea of it more interesting than actually doing it? These are questions I’m going to have to consider, if I’m going to get this first book written, read by first reader (s) and submitted somewhere.

In the meantime though, life is good, my watched my son doing his sport today, and he bowled well (I love watching lawn bowls!). His rink won, but the other two rinks lost, one of them by a large amount, so he has to play again tomorrow, to keep in the finals. They’ve had a good year, and it will be awesome if they can win the grand final, happening in a couple of weeks.

At the Mallala Bowling Club, earlier in the year

I’m being more physically active, myself too, and my weight is sort of heading in the direction I want it to go (lower, just a little bit weight to lose …) I’ve been weighing myself every day, too, and I realise worrying about a few hundred grams of weight is silly, so I don’t worry about it.

I do bear it in mind though. I have a target weight in mind and once I get there, or closer to it anyway, I’ll make sure to keep on with the exercises, because they are helping me to keep moving. My medication is too, of course, and the healthy and nutritious food I usually eat. And of course, having a positive attitude in life is an important factor as well.

I have lots of great things, the bad ones are under control, I have good things on their way to look forward to, and life is good!

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Getting On With Things

carolyncordon

Blog posts don’t write themselves, and nor do novels. I am somewhat embarrassed at my lack of progress with both this blog, and my Cosy Murder Mystery ‘At Talloola’ series. The blog is going to manage fine, because, obviously, I am currently writing a new post for it. The Murder Mystery series though, and my main character, Meredith Webster, are sitting around, twiddling their thumbs.

That looks a little like the Talloola Campground. I wonder who those people are? Possible victims, or possible murderers? Or maybe just people at the opening of the Mallala Campground, and neither victim nor murderer … Yes, well that’s who they are, actually, but it’s fun to play with ideas!

I got excited by my series again last week, when I saw, and both chatted about, and wrote about in my last blog post, a brand new character for my series. I’d seen her whilst lunching with a friend, and the ideas came bubbling up in my mind. The odd stray idea pops up still, regarding that character, but no words for the novel are happening, either the first in the series, nor one particularly about that character, if that’s the way I end up going with her.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but if I haven’t, here goes: Live gets in the way. That’s an undeniable fact of life. There are things we have to do, that are totally unrelated to writing, any form of it. Eating, tending to household duties, looking after the dog. Unless I were writing a blog post on a different blog, or writing a different kind of novel, these things are completely off target, for my blogging/novel writing self.

And there are important other things, my personal health and well-being, for instance. I have a Chronic Illness that has no cure, Multiple Sclerosis (MS). There are treatments, and I’m doing will with the DMT (disease modifying therapy) I am currently taking – the medication Gilenya. This medicine, and my mostly healthy lifestyle and positive life attitude mean I am able to live an almost normal life.

MS might be making me a little more forgetful and disorganised than other people without that disease, or it may simply be my nature to be so, but I certainly feel a little scattered at the moment, and so am behind in a few things, including this blog, and the novel. But when I say I’m a bit behind, it doesn’t mean a lot – my schedules on these things are self-imposed.

I don’t have to write a blog post every day, or other day. I don’t have to write a Cosy Murder Mystery series. I simply decided that’s what I want to be and do, and if I don’t do them, my life will still continue on, regardless. I could go back to being a poet, and member of a writing group, without the pressures of being a regular blogger and novelist.

But if I did that, I will feel a bit like a failure … Ah well, I’m getting back into the blogging thing, with this particular blog post, and perhaps a little later on today, I’ll get some more of my novel written. After all, the idea of being the writer of a Cosy Murder Mystery series is a very attractive idea to me, and I am a bit in love with the idea of spending the rest of my life writing Cosy Murder Mystery books, in the ‘At Talloola’ series.

Do you have an idea of who you want to be seen as, for the rest of your life? I’m middle-aged now, at 57, and while my lifespan might be slightly reduced because of the MS, barring accidents or unknown potential illness, I still have at least thirty years of life left … So that’s what I want to spend that time doing, blogging, and writing Cosy Murder Mysteries. And talking about doing those two things, and doing all of the needed things to further a career in doing the things.

Writing books is only the initial part of being a writer, actually getting books published, and marketed and sold, can take a lot of time too. And living a life worth blogging about, and getting ideas for writing, these take time too. Hmm, I really should get on with that novel writing, goodbye for now, I’ll be back soon, why not let us know how feel about what I’ve written?!