Nearing the End of My Latest Book and...

The small publisher I'm with for my Rocky Bluff P.D. series doesn't give me deadlines. Because I always manage to finish and send a completed manuscript off to her in a timely manner she's never asked me to have it completed by a certain date.

The one I'm working on now I'm having trouble finishing. I'm only pages from the end, but I don't want to write what I know has to happen.

This is kind of a departure from my other Rocky Bluff P.D. novels, usually they've focused on the lead detectives and their families. The one that is coming out at the beginning of the year is really Stacey Wilbur's story as her wedding day draws near.

But this book is all about Officer Gordon Butler. He's kind of been the buffoon through several books with nothing working out for him from his wife running off with another police officer to wrecking a brand new police car. Readers really like Gordon, and feel sorry for him, and I thought it would be fun to put him in the spotlight for a change.

What I wasn't counting on was the fact that he is still the same Gordon Butler. Maybe because I'm the writer I thought I was in control, but as so many of us learn as we write that the characters tend to take charge and do their own thing.

I'm determined to finish this book before the end of the year. By giving myself a deadline, I hope it will happen.

Another problem with this book is I almost always have a title right from the beginning--this time I haven't a clue what I'll call it. Since my critique group is hearing this one now, chapter by chapter, I'm hoping they'll help me come up with the perfect title. I know that often the big publishers will change an author's title for a book--but I've never had that happen with any of the small publishers I've been with.

So, wish me luck as I run out of things I think I have to do before I work on the last chapter of this book.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com/