Have a new adventure beginning. A Cozy Mystery series set in the fictional town of Duxbury, MA. A inquisitive cookbook author, a unique and fascinating extreme knitter and a town full of quirky characters. Many more details to come…
Author: Annie DeMoranville
Author of the TJ Wilde Trilogy, Duxbridge and the Jennifer Cozy Mysteries
Instagram Short Stories: It Rings
Left on a dusty shelf in a dark corner of a secondhand store. A hidden treasure, ignored and neglected. I brought it home, cleaned it up, and stationed it on my desk. There it sat, silenced by smaller, faster, more mobile instruments. Still, I loved its sleek, strong presence, evoking thoughts of rainy night mysteries.
Sitting, working, when the quiet of the night was shattered by ringing. I must be hallucinating. It rings again.
I picked up the receiver…
Novel Recipes: Italian Sausage and Grapes
So in Run Aground I had several recipes that I’ve linked to my recipe blog. I have continued the tradition with Underway.
First it was Tahini Walnut Rolls
Next up, Italian Sausage and Grapes:
It’s sounds unusual, but it has amazing flavor and so quick and easy to prepare.
Buon appetito!
Instagram Short Stories: Magical Unicorn Bike
I may not look like much
But oh, the places I go
Over rainbows and behind waterfalls
Into secret, mystical portals
Magic begins with the push of a pedal
Hop on…
Underway Update and Big Reveal
Update 11/15/19 – the manuscript is about ready to go to the editor. And I have a surprise! The draft of the Underway Cover. I’m loving it. What do you think?
Previous update:
I wanted to give you an update on Underway. As is obvious now, my projected publishing date has come and gone. I’ve now revised it for (hopefully) a December release. The reasons why are two-fold.
One, life got in the way and derailed my desire to write. And in some ways even my ability to write. I addressed that with my Anger Journal, and my creativity appears to be back on track.
The more important reason, though, was I got lost halfway through book two, mired in structure instead of remembering why I was writing. I forgot that I love TJ Wilde. I love telling her story. I love her quirkiness, her flaws, her inability to commit, her damaged soul, and mostly her fight to stay positive and moving toward what she wants.
In other words, I lost her voice. And I love her voice.
My first editor really, really did not like TJ, felt she was too dysfunctional, too morally challenged. She tried several times to sterilize her. I was a brick wall on that point. We agreed to disagree and instead focused on the structure and timing of the novel.
My current editor loves TJ as much as I do. Appreciates her tang, her spark, her weaknesses, and I suspect we will tangle more on pacing and structure than we will on characters.
Anyway, I’ve taken a long break, finished my cookbook, and dabbled with my other series. Most importantly, I indulged in the female characters that reminded me of how I like my heroes: the inept, yet fearless bounty hunter with a love of big hair and bigger eyelashes; the filled with anger and teenage hormones private eye; the “rules are for adults” preteen with a penchant for uncovering mysteries; the overall-wearing six-year-old with impulse control issues; the vampire slayer, also awash in teenage hormones and resentment; and yes, I suppose even a cowardly, clumsy talking Great Dane.
So now, refreshed, I now feel ready to tackle (with a lot of rewriting) Underway again.
I’m hoping to have a least a rough draft of Chapter One to share soon.
Stay tuned…
Annie DeMoranville 