Sometimes you go with your gut

For all my readers who are clamoring for the next Peri book, it's on its way. I'm about 20,000 words from the end of the story. I know where the story is going and how to finish it. For the past few weeks, I've been writing feverishly, madly, quickly, just to get to "The End."

And then my intuition started to nag at me, telling me more than a few things.

1. This book needs more care, more thought than a race to the finish line, even in draft form.

2. This book will never been published this year. It needs time.

3. I need to have a book out this year.

In the old days, I never listened to my gut. That's how I married the wrong man and got bucked off my horse. Now that I'm older and wiser, I pay more attention.

One of the neat things about 2015 is that it's the 10th anniversary of my column in the Placentia News-Times. I have two books of columns out, but haven't put a new one out in four years. I've been puzzling as to what to do to celebrate ten years of telling tales about my family, my community, and myself.

Then it occurred to me, why not a book for my P-Town friends? As a matter of fact, why not two? Or three?

What I'm doing is a little unconventional. When I go to the Placentia Heritage Day festivities this year, I'll have three brand-new paperbacks. One will be columns about my family, one will be columns about Placentia, and one will be columns about the holidays. They won't be available before then. They won't be available in ebook. Not until my P-Town readers have the opportunity to have the books first -- and of course, at deep discounts. 

It should only take a couple of weeks to get the books ready to go. After that, I'll return to Peri's story and wait until October to release the anniversary books.

Be patient. I promise you good stories!

Dear God, does she ever shut up?

One of the things I'm discovering about this Blog-A-Day-O-Rama is that, on the days when I'm super-busy, I need to just post something quick, like a pretty picture or a famous quote, but I can't. I've got to type some of my own words to go with it, and before I know it, I've typed an entire entry. I guess you could say I run off at the fingertips.

So, it's late-ish Friday night and I want to get to bed early because tomorrow's a busy day. It will start off here, at the Alta Vista Country Club:

This is Placentia's country club, and it's where the Placentia Library is hosting their Author's Luncheon. No, I'm not one of the authors being feted - yet - but I want to go and meet some other authors, glad-hand the library patrons and get the scoop on the luncheon and the country club.

You see, my next Peri Minneopa mystery novel will be set in this world. I realize that the Placentia Alta Vista Country Club isn't quite the upscale digs that some of those reality-TV housewives would frequent; however, by the time I get done with it, it will be.

Although I love setting the action in and around my hometown, I do take liberties. After all, it's called fiction, people. The real country club offers only golf, and has a nice clubhouse with a bar and restaurant and meeting rooms. My version will probaby include tennis courts, a pool, and perhaps a spa. Not to give away too much, Peri has to infiltrate a group of wealthy wives for surveillance and discovers some of them may have an interesting side business. The working title? "Hit or Missus."

In addition to the author's luncheon, tomorrow is my 17th wedding anniversary. I'm not certain what Dale and I will do, but rumor has it my son will be out of the house with friends until late, so who knows where we'll go and what we'll do?

Which means I need to get some sleep if I want to truly enjoy tomorrow. I keep thinking tomorrow's entry might be brief, but that's what I thought about this one, too.

Later, Peeps.