I wrote on Twitter last week about writers rushing through their last chapters. I feel you should spend as much time, maybe more, on the last chapter as the first. You are cheating your readers, who have spent their valuable time reading your story.
As always, I can never squeeze my thoughts in such limited space on Twitter, so I continue on my FB and Blog..
We try to make the first several chapters perfect to entice readers to continue reading, but I have noticed that many of my favorite authors, even best sellers, sometimes leave me with an unsatisfactory feeling, like the book isn't quite finished.
I won't mention any names, but last week a finished reading the latest in a mystery series that I have followed for years. This author is on the best seller list every book, but I felt he was bored, or tired, of the story and just wanted to finish it.
This is a problem for writers I think. I know it is for me.I have reread and edited chapters so many time that I have it memorized, but if I take a break and do some plotting for a week I seem to get my fresh interest back. I'm doing the final editing of 'Evil Irish Lies' now and I can feel my mind drifting to the next story in the Meg and Janet Vacation Murder Mysteries. They'll be vacationing in France and I'm thinking about a title and book cover. See what I mean. Aye, I must stay in Ireland a little longer, , and then wee, I can go to France.

Halloween Fun

Here’s a fun thing to do for Halloween. Jo Naylor and the Ink Slingers are releasing today their Halloween Anthology ‘When the Lights Go Out’. I am excited to join 24 other authors who put together these short stories to scare you to death, or to at least make you turn the lights back on. It is free on Smashwords. It is 99 cents on Amazon but should also be free there soon. I’m going to read one every night. I’ll be stoked for the big night.

This is the Smashwords link:

 https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/579727

This is the amazon link: - http://www.amazon.com/When-Lights-Out-Halloween-Anthology-ebook/dp/B015QZYYGY/

#‎FirstLineFriday‬
It had stopped raining by the time the man leaned his bike against the stone wall and removed his slicker. At the door to the pub, he felt a tingling sensation at the back of his neck. He shook his head and turned to see a misty fog moving down the road toward him.

My Lamps

                                 

 My Lamps

Okay, this one is not about reading and writing. It's about my lamps, bear with me, I have a lamp problem.

Remember the aisle of misfit toys in "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer"? Our large country is like an aisle of misfit lamps to me. They're everywhere in garage sales, thrift stores, antique shops, ebay, and they all need rescuing. They pull at my heart strings and I need to save them.

We have a small condo and it's got way too many lamps in it, but I just can't help it,  these sometimes tired relics of the past should not be cast aside, they are part of history.

  

 I purchased this 1960 or 70 lamp on ebay. The man who owned it said he had inherited his grandmother's house and asked his girlfriend to move in with him. She hated the lamp and said she'd only move in if he got rid of the lamp. So he sold me the lamp. To be fair with the girlfriend it had a really big, awful,  tie dyed, shade on it. The shade was so bad you could barely see the lamp. New shade and look what a beautiful lamp I saved.

This one came from ebay also, all the way from England. It goes further back than the 60's. The English lady said it was probably after World War Two and nearer the 50's. It had the original globes and was just what I wanted above my dining room table. Of course there was a problem, besides having it rewired for the US. She wanted $35 for it, but emailed us back that it was going to cost $45 to ship. She said if you want to back out of the deal, I will understand. But it was too late, I needed that lamp, and that lamp needed me. Husband rewired it and it has shone proudly over my table for 6 years.

---

This gem I found in an antique shop in northern Tennessee. It is not a reproduction, She was stashed away  on a top shelf, had to view her with my binoculars.  She was dusty and hadn't been touched in a while.  $35.  Had to bargain the price, because the sales tax in Tennessee is almost 10 percent.

Named her Evette. Probably 1930 or earlier.

 

 

Salvation Army. Doesn't look like much, just a tall floor lamp with a unique rectangular shade. The interesting thing about it is the inside of that shade. It has a shiny foil material that is awesome. Picture doesn't do it justice.

 My daughter and I were waiting in line to pay for it and the manager asked if she could take our picture. "Sure," we said. "Why?" "There's a pool in the store," she tells us. "No one thought anyone  would buy such an ugly lamp. So I need a photo to prove it." Can you believe it? I've done my job with this one. It really needed me. And it's a three way light.

Antique shop in western  NC.  My son was with me and rushed me out of the shop when he thought I was getting interested in it. When he left us and went back home, I went back and bought it. It had a pink and white polka dot shade. I'm not kidding, pink and white polka dot. Definitely 1970s. What a beauty it is now.

This is a family piece from the 1950s. It was my mom's. I think it was before plastic, but I know it's 100 percent metal. It has never been rewired, and I  use it everyday. It has lived it's whole life on a barrier island with no rust from the salt spray of the Atlantic.

This small lamp could be my favorite. It's from ebay and is from 1958.  It had the original shade with the 1950's little circles to match the base.  They don't make them like this any more. Sweet and adorable with a three way light.

                                                     The End

                                       Husband says no more lamps.

I haven't been posting on my blog, but I have been writing. 'Evil Irish Lies' will be finished this summer. This is the third book in the ‘Meg and Janet Vacation Murder Mystery’ series. This time, the girls find murder and intrigue on the Emerald Isle.

Vacationing and holidays have put me way behind where I wanted to be with this book, but it's always that way. If I just sat and wrote eight hours a day, five days a week, it would have been done months and months ago. Anyway enough of the excuses, it will be finished this summer, maybe June or July, but in 2015 for sure.

Joleene Naylor, book cover extraordinaire has done another fantastic job. I just told her I wanted green and a shamrock, which my daughter, Kitty, drew, right in the middle. And of course there had to be some blood. I always get Joleene on the case, when I'm about three quarters along. It gives me that extra push to the end. When I see her cover, it becomes a book, not a document.

I remember a long, long time ago when I first started writing 'A Winter Murderland', I had never even tried to write a full length book, it was daunting to me. I didn't think I could actually do it. But paragraph after paragraph led me into a real book. About half way through it, I decided I should get a professional to give me advice. So I did, and I got a very good critique on the first six chapters, which helped me. But, there was one piece of advice that I didn’t take. She told me I had too much description of foreign places. “After all,’ she said, “you’re writing a mystery book not a travel book.” I gave this a lot of thought and finally decided to not take this bit of advice. When I first decided to write I wanted to write about thinks I knew. I am visually impaired, so my protagonist is also. I have traveled to all the places I write about, so I know them well, and I love a good mystery, I grew up reading Agatha Cristie. And, boy, have I met some kooky people along the way.

Woo hoo! 'The Kilt Killer' is finished and uploaded to Amazon and Smashwords. I didn't make the Thanksgiving 2013 deadline, the Christmas or MLK deadlines.Oh well, I did make the Easter deadline. Actually, I didn't have an Easter deadline. Maybe tha'st the secret. I know it took forever, but I had tennis to watch, Tour de France (I'm adicted to it), and then football, Christmas, New Years in Las Vegas with family. Hey, I've got a file full of excuses.

 I' want to say one thing about Smashwords. I don't sell as many books on Smashwords, but I don't think I would sell any if it weren't for Mark Coker's wonderful instructive guides. Jim just called me today and told me I'd been accepted in Smashwords Premium Catalog. He also told me I had sold three books on Amazon. I was more excited about the catalog acceptance than the sales, (Jim seemed to be happier with the sales).  I know Smashwords vets the books, I don't know about Amazon, maybe they do also. Amazon is a household name so people go there. Okay, I got that out of my system.

'The Kilt Killer'. I'm going to miss those characters and that little village. I could have gone on and on, but int Chapter 49 I realized I must end it. I didn't want to, but I did. So, there it is, over. You see how  lost I am this week. I hope people will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Meg and Janet are great characters and bring out the best, and sometimes the worst, in everyone they meet.

I can't say enough about my wonderful husband, what a trouper he is.
Also, I want to thank Keith Manson in Edinburg for his help with all things Scottish. Interesting slang they have there. Thank ye, mate.

Now a word about the highlands of Scotland. The east bank of Loch Ness is rural and charming. The drive from Inverness to Fort Augustus is a breatttaking drive. A stop at Foyer falls is a must. There's a lot of history in the highlands, so read up on it before you go. I would give that advice to anyone traveling to  a far away country. T he beauty of Scotland surrounds you at every bend in the road from the large cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Inverness to the small  isolated villages, The cold North Sea, the  myjestic mountains, and the  lonely moors, they're all there for you to enjoy. If you get the opportunity, Go Scoltand!

I have not blogged in months because of traveling and writing. "A Winter Murderland" is doing well and I've received many good reviews and helpful hints. Everyone seems to have liked the plot. One reviewer wished it had gone a bit longer. It was over 77,000  words so I'm trying for 80,000 for "The Kilt Killer". Got a really good book cover, which was fun. Had to buy a dagger, 'Dirk', online since I couldn't find a stock photo of a real Dirk on line. So now I'm the proud owner of a real Scottish Dirk, made in China. Then the Halloween shops opened and I was able to buy blood. So with Dirk, blood, and husband's hand, I got a scary photo with my ipad. I sent that photo and a photo of the Scottish moors, which I took while in Scotland, and sent them off to Jolene Naylor, my book cover designer. She did her magic and came up with a great cover. I'm hoping to finish the story by Thanksgiving. Here's the cover result: