In Gallup, Greed -- the cover is out

My cover is ready for the latest -- novel length -- Cinnamon/Burro New Mexico mystery thriller.  Follow Santa Fe detective Cinnamon, and her pal, Burro as they wind through art works that seem alive to search out greed and corruption in Gallup.  Plus, Cinnamon talks to Momma.
 

I Sense Confusion

            A coyote drifted by the front window, cautious, gray-gold, sniffing the dirt.  The college campus surrounding Burro’s apartment lay quiet in the late morning. A gray cloud drifted by in the distance, foreshadowing the monsoon.   Burro watched, and the cautious animal raised his eyes towards the cloud, and then turned towards Burro, as if to communicate the coming torrent.  A coyote vision, Burro thought, based on intuition, evidence, and the inner workings of coyote genes.

A sneak peak from #6 in the New Mexico mystery thriller series early on....planned release date:  July 1, 2014

How to Plot a Mystery Novel: My Story

"Nice characters, interesting setting, great tone, no plot."

That's the story of my novels for years.  So I wrote 5 short stories, and they each contained a tightly written plot.  One of my reviewers said, "How do you pack so much into so little space?  Talent."

Okay, I'll take that.  But how do I pack so much into more space?  It's now or never, I thought.  The book must have a plot.

Here are the steps I took:

1. Write the beginning and the end first.  This advice came from an experienced writer friend who now tells me he doesn't do that anymore.  Ah, well.  It worked for me.  But then there's the middle. 
2. Create a list of characters and how they look.  I did this, but everything changed, including the characters names.  But it got me started.  Next time, I hope to get the characters names and appearance right at least some of the time.
3. Create a chapter map.  I could not do this until I wrote the whole story once, which is a bit of a problem, and not a process I want to repeat with my next book.  But, for this one, it worked.  After this first run through, I renamed the chapter and created a minimalist map that contained chapter title, number, point-of-view, day of the week, time of day and a 1-2 sentence summary.
4. Use the chapter map to find holes in the plot, clues and character actions.  Because I am not experienced at plotting yet, I needed to add details, change character actions, and change or add clues that were missing.  The chapter map saved my sanity.  When I found missing details, I knew what chapter they were or were not in, or I was able to choose a place to put the missing details or even missing chapters.

My novel is with my two editors now, so we'll see how it all went.  I know it's the best I've done in a novel, so I feel good about my process.

Next time, the steps I might take:

1. Try writing software.   I will at least take a serious look at software like Scrivener.  
2. Try a spreadsheet.  The writing software sounds too organized for a dis-organized person like me.  A spreadsheet might be simpler.  Might be.
3. Get over myself.  I spent years thinking I was to0 creative to organize my books or my stories and the the story (a mystery story, no less, with clues, red herrings, suspects, pu-leeze). 
4. Have fun.  The more organized I am before I start, the more phone.
5. Realize writers lie in interviews.  I saw Elmore Leonard in an interview with Charlie Rose in which he gave the following advice:  "Never use 'I said.'"  Except Leonard uses that all the time.  Moral:  Don't believe writers who say the story simply flows out of them.  They are creating an image of themselves to increase sales.  More power to them on that point!

The book is entitle In Gallup, Greed, is #6 in the New Mexico mystery thriller series, and is full of quirky characters, New Mexico charm, and chilling, murderous greed.

Until next time...keep writing...

Tower Lowe

Greed and Redemption in Gallup: A Novel

Months go by with no twitter, not blog, no Google+ posts:  why?  I am writing the latest in my New Mexico thriller series and the first novel.

Hungry artists, spiritual seekers, Cinnamon and Burro and a bloody stabbing take over Gallup, New Mexico.  To top in all off, Cinnamon's long lost "Momma" used to room in Gallup with the victim's long lost sister.  All this and more in my latest New Mexico Cinnamon and Burro mystery thriller:  In Gallup, Greed.

I put writing first and left behind my publicity to finish the novel and to create suspense and mystery in the plot.  I can't wait to get the book back from my editors and publish it!

Coming soon...a report on how I did it while working a full-time job.

Mental Health Mind Bender FREE Mar 25-27

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Take a break with a mental health mess amid alien abductors -- In Roswell, Re-abducted, #4 in the New Mexico mystery thriller series.

"Escape is impossible -- imposible," Ernesto whispered that in her left ear three years ago. Ernesto was 5’6”, a small mustache on his brown face. He charmed her when she met him that first week in Mexico. She thought Ernesto vulnerable, a boy looking for a mother.  Not after three years, though.  By then she was in his embrace, more like a trap with no release.  Chili wanted to leave Mexico and the sick life she had with Ernesto, but it was hard.  He controlled her every move, and she had no money of her own.  The only money came from Ernesto’s brother, who belonged to one of the cartels, sold cocaine, and hired Ernesto to kill people, like the dead guy with his head severed and his headless body on the black pavement.

Cool and Curious in the Caverns -- FREE Mar 11-13

Hidden romance, revenge, jealousy and murder.  Follow Cinnamon and Burro as they figure out the killer in this crazy mysterious journey that begins in the depth of Carlsbad Caverns.   Quirky characters dominate this New Mexico top mystery short story series. 

UK http://amzn.to/RiCgF5  US http://amzn.to/WOQKPu

A skinny man, about 5’2”, all in black, dropped to the ground and grabbed Emma by the knees.  Long, slick brown hair fell in front of his face, and he started a desperate monologue.

“Your sister was a wonderful woman.  Nobody alive was as good as her, as kind, as generous, as giving.  She taught me in 9^th grade, you know that?  She treated me like a son.  Nobody could hurt an angel like her.  Nobody, not even that custodian, Jam.  She loved him, too, she did.”

Emma readjusted her body, throwing the man off her knees.  He fell on the pavement, looking up at her now, his hair off his face. I saw a scar running from his left lip to his ear.  His eyes were cat-green, and a sour smell fumed off his clothes.

 “Don’t be so dramatic, Zookie.”  Emma put her hand up to hold the man away.  “You know Magda didn’t like that sort of display.  Think of her, for goodness sake.  Maybe she caught somebody robbing the lunchroom and they attacked her. We don’t know if it was Jam yet. Stop guessing.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, Emma,” Zookie stood up.  “There’s no reason for our Magda to be down at the bottom of the caverns at night unless Jam asked her to come.”           

Zookie’s green eyes were showing red around the edges, and I realized he was drunk or stoned, or both.  Emma followed my look, and explained Zookie.

“He was one of Magda’s students,” Emma flipped a hand in his direction, “when she taught high school here in Carlsbad.  Magda helped her students out when they…they had problems.”

Zookie took offense at this.  “She saved my life over and over again, is what she did. She said so herself.  I’d be dead without her.”

“Zookie,” Emma stood up now, looking the skinny man in the face. “You can’t save someone’s life over and over again.  The truth is you manipulated…”

And boy did he....find out the rest of the story for FREE March 11-13, 2012.

In Dulce, Disturbed and FREE and waiting

It all started with a boy beaten to death on the Jicarilla Apache Nation.  Now Cinnamon and Burro are becoming characters in a series of mystery NOVELS INSTEAD OF SHORT STORIES!

This freebie is still a short story, but my next installment, In Gallup, Greed is taking shape as a novel of passion and, yes, greed.  The reader will find out much more about Cinnamon and Burro, where and how they live, who their friends and lovers are and how they interact when they solve a crime.

Then, I will RE-Write In Dulce, Disturbed as a novel.  In a way, I hate to do it, as this has been the most popular of my little stories, but I figure it's best to begin at the beginning.  If the plot takes a different twist, maybe I'll leave the short story up and have the novel as a separate purchase.

For now, please download In Dulce, Disturbed for free and tell me what you think in a fair minded review.  Or, tell me what you'd like to see in a novel with these characters.

Zero in on Zany Southwest Mystery -- FREE

Cinnamon and Burro zero in on a killer on the Zuni Reservation -- and find all kinds of quirky characters lurking in the shadows, practicing new age and old age mysticism.  A very big surprise in in store for Cinnamon regarding Momma.

This southwestern tour is FREE February 12 and 13.  Download here:  UK http://amzn.to/Pz7Aec  US http://amzn.to/KvVfsl

Join the fun.