Mystery Adventures: A Writers Guide

It was my first book signing as an independent writer. In other words, there were no other writers there, just me. I had visions of a room filled with people holding sparkling conversations, drinking Champagne, and lining up to buy my book. It was right out of Castle or Murder She Wrote. The problem was it was noon on a Saturday in Hayward California. It was the Book Shop in Hayward on "B" Street, (give your local supportive bookstore a plug) and who the hell has heard of Gene Poschman. Let's face it I am not James Patterson or Stephen King. There was no line out the door of waiting fans to get the next book in the Jonas Watcher series. Carl, the Bookstore owner, set up a table for me prominently located so that each and every patron could see that I was there on display. "See the Local Author" should have been displayed above my head with some reference to feeding or not feeding me. I may recommend that to Carl the next time I go for a book signing. Yes, th...

I doubt anyone would be interested in the first pass of the outline I have just finished. I believe some of the details of how I built the outline and how I intend to use it in writing the novel would be of interest. Those who have already written and successfully published novels may be interested to see if there are any nuggets that they may use from my creative process. For someone starting out, to see a successful process that works should provide some support in their attempting their first book. To be at the outline stage of developing a novel means that you as a writer have accomplished a few things. You have an idea for a story. You have at least written a couple of lines of what the story is about. You have at least a working title and you should have a hook, that is one or two lines as to what your story is about that will hook the reader. This is what I had for my current project. Book Title - Jonas Watcher: The Case of the Jade Dragon. The title was somewhat easy ...