You Can Be a Character in a Novel!

I’m attending the JustRead Rendezvous in St Louis tomorrow! If you’re going to be there too, please come by and say “Hello!” If you’re not coming, I hope you go next year. It’s such a great event.

The writing journey I’ve traveled for my next book, FATAL FINALE, has been an experience I never want to face again. The “file corruption demons” destroyed my first manuscript. I had to rewrite my entire story and then do edits to get it ready for readers. FATAL FINALE will finally be available on August 18th, 2026. No matter what bit of advice you want to give me, in the end, I’m emailing my daily work to myself. It’s the only way I feel completely safe. (Almost sounds like a suspense novel, huh? LOL!)

Here's a little about FATAL FINALE.

When bestselling author Erin Delaney's novel gets picked up for a movie deal, she eagerly awaits her friend Kaely Quinn-Hunter's arrival in Tennessee before they head to California to observe the film's production. However, when Kaely does not arrive at the scheduled time and Erin can't reach her by phone, her concern grows.

A cryptic phone call from Kaely's kidnapper confirms her worst fears--Erin has exactly six days to save her friend's life by solving his twisted clues. The man's message comes with a warning: Contact the police or FBI and Kaely dies. But Erin works for the Sanctuary Police Department and Kaely's husband is with the FBI, putting her in an impossible situation. As Erin races against time, she's forced to crack the kidnapper's chilling puzzle before it's too late.

Since FATAL FINALE won’t be available for a while, instead of giving away a book, how about a different kind of contest? Leave a comment and tell me why I should use your name in my next series. I don’t have a title yet for the first book, but it’s a series about police detectives in St. Louis. I’ve always wanted to write about detectives and am very excited to see this dream come to life.

Remember that the character won’t be YOU. I’m just using your name, although I may ask you to describe yourself so I can fold some truth into a character that might be very different from who you really are. However, you can be sure that you won’t be a villain. I don’t do that when I use the names of real people.

If I get time, I’ll check in from the conference, maybe with pictures of some of your favorite authors. That’s it for now! Be blessed!