when I finished my last novel, Blood Orange, I went looking for an editor. I want this book to be the shinning star in my career as an author. I don't have a big budget. Most authors don't. This is my fifth book and I've made mistakes choosing my editor in the past.
​My first book,  Broken Branches amzn.to/2jy5zFg I had edited by three different editors at bargain prices. The editors were friends who said they knew what they were doing. Obviously I didn't know what I was doing. There were mistakes in spelling and duplicated words. The formatting was a mess. Last year I had it edited again and reformatted.
​For my second book, Bottle Alley,​ http://amzn.to/2kbxON6 was edited by a friend that charged me triple what my first book cost. I almost had a hear attack when she wanted to kill off a main character in the first chapter.
​The third book, Honey Tree Farm, http://amzn.to/2jh3v3y was edited by the same person. Not a good idea. She changed the first two chapters a lot. The reviews I get all say the first chapters are too slow and the book doesn't take off until the third chapter.
​For the second book in the Green Lady Inn series, Whispers in Time, http://amzn.to/2oBBxWW . Broken Branches is book one. I went with another fellow author at a rock bottom price. I have received no reviews since it was released  a couple months ago. I have no idea if this book should be throw on the bonfire or not.
​Now we arrive at my fifth book Blood Orange. It's with a professional editor now at $50 an hour. How many hours will it take? Your guess is as good as mine. They are doing a good rewrite, a bit of connecting the dots that I missed and my horrible spelling and punctuation. This one will cost me. I don't dare tell my husband how much. He pinches every penny twice before he spends it. 
​Whispers in Time is free on kindle this weekend. I'd love to get some reviews and have readers tell me if it's any good or not.
​sign up for my new letter to get information on new releases. Blood Orange will be out this summer.
​You can order copies of my books and others I have helped to publish from m store.

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I've started working on the third book in the green lady Inn series.
​In book one Megan inherited the house in Salem Massachusetts  from her grandmother. She also met and married, quite suddenly, Jake Durant a mystery writer from Boston. Her next door neighbors, Zack and Amanda, along with Jake help her solve the mystery surrounding her grandmother's death. 
I enjoyed writing this first novel. It almost seemed to write itself.
​Book two was a little harder. I was learning more about my craft and trying hard to put what I was learning into my book. In this one the Green Lady Inn is not quite up and running when strange guests start to appear at her door. A valuable painting is stolen from the Longstreet Gallery, and she finds a new distant relative. Who happens to work for Scotland Yard.
​Book three is harder yet. There are more characters to keep track of. Thank goodness for excel. Megan and her neighbor have both had babies. How do you mention the babies and then forget them as the story unfolds? You can't. Baby sitters have to be hired. Megan's child, Elizabeth has to be fed, changed and put to bed at night. It all gets a bit more complicated. 
​The Longstreet Gallery has plans to expand into the store next door but the unscrupulous relator, Mr. Prendergast has rented it out to a printing outfit. Megan and Amanda have approached a reclusive Thaddaeus Cadwallader , the owner of the space in question and tell him what Prendergast is up to. Will it make a difference?
​Your guess is as good as mine. I write by the seat of my pants,  one scene at a time.
​I only know the general premise of the book. It takes me on a journey of discovery as I write it. Only a couple facts hold true.
​Megan has visions that give her cryptic clues that she and her fellow armature detectives solve. The Inn now has a resident ghost, Lucinda Cory Sinclair. She's another relative and Megan's lookalike. Lucinda is now talking to Megan warning her of dangers to come. Magic is a black cat Megan rescued as a kitten in book one. Magic is always in the middle of things and has taken a position as guardian to little Elizabeth.
​I know who the bad guys are and what they are up to but how will I have them get caught? I haven't murdered anyone yet. I have an idea who I want to have killed, should I? I'm also still playing with the cover. How much should I giveaway?
Writing is a process I'm enjoying. I'm learning as I go. I belong to a couple writers groups and they have all helped shape my writing in one way or another. I also read a lot of mystery books and each one give me something I can use to make my writing better.
​Thanks for listening and please write a short comment. I'd love to hear from you​