It sounds strange to say, I’m too busy writing to write, but that’s really been the case
these past few months and I apologize for not posting on my blog.
Last fall, I woke up one morning thinking about a novel I’d like to write and in spite of
the fact that it was 5 a.m., the longer I lay there the more I thought of the plot.So I got up, went
into my study, sat down at the computer and started to write. Today I hit the 50,000 word
mark!
I’ve never written a novel. Never really had any thought about writing one, but the story
idea just grew and grew and I found myself becoming very involved with my characters and I
wanting to see their story develop.
It will surprise my friends and followers to know this is a romance novel, a totally
different genre from the non-fiction I’ve written my entire life.
Just to give you a hint, it is the story of a Massachusetts widow (former school teacher) and a
widower from Arizona (who still works as a residential architect) , both in their sixties, who
meet on a hiking trail in Grand Teton National Park. The scene shifts from Wyoming to Boston
to Tucson as the story develops. Conflict and problems arise, of course, but love will win in the
happy ever after, which I’ve just learned is called the HEA in romance writer’s talk!
I just went through three days of presentations via Zoom presented by Women in
Publishing and found there are all sorts of “rules” a romance novel is supposed to follow. Never
knew there were rules about romance, but this means, of course, I’ll be doing a lot of additions,
revisions and editing. Moreover, 50,000 words is only about half of the 90,000 minimum
expected by publishers. So this book won’t be finished for a while.
I thought I would have trouble writing dialog, but as I developed my characters, a bit like
my travel journals, I found the words came easily. In any event, I wanted to explain my absence
on my blog and I’ll try to do better about keeping you all posted! Oh by the way, the tentative
title? Adam and Eve!