TJ Wilde – Page 2 – Annie DeMoranville

The Evolution of TJ Wilde: Underway, Pt 2

Boston skyline with tall ship in the harbor

Location, location, location. As important in fiction as it is in real estate.

So I had SoWa. I had Long Island just off Boston Harbor. I had a unique Cuban gallery that participated in a Cuban artist exchange program. All that was left was a quick trip to Cuba. Once I had the locations, the artists’ community, and the historical context I needed to craft TJ’s Boston world, then the mysteries began to unfold.

Long Island viewed from Quincy MA — Long Island in Boston Harbor

Before she even unpacks, TJ finds new friends in SoWa, thanks to an abandoned kitten, and is quickly thrust into another mystery, thanks to a break-in and a missing gallerist. A Cuban art gallery, with a Cuban exchange program, and an abandoned hospital on a mostly abandoned island, offer a tangled web of intrigue. And she still needs to navigate her new job, along with suddenly becoming responsible for a rambunctious kitten, all while actively avoiding Colby’s many texts.

The Evolution of TJ Wilde: Underway, Pt 1

You can leave Boston, but Boston will never leave you, white letters on black background

Boston is one of my favorite cities and my home for many years. Underway was born, not of my adventures there, but a week of new and unexpected adventures not long after I published Run Aground. My friend and I were driving around, exploring possible locations for Underway, when we came across the SoWa (South Washington) Art District. We stepped into the world I’d envisioned, yet didn’t know existed.

There TJ could find her new home, new work and maybe a new life.

Another day, exploring our old stomping grounds, I point out across the water and ask, “are those the islands you used to camp out on as a kid?” She tells me no, that the island where the old hospital is, that was in use for various things until the bridge to the island was demolished.

After I got over the shock of never having realized that after decades of walking the beach across from it, I knew it would have a starring role in the book.

Underway opens in Boston, where TJ feels most at home. Back to where she was happy. Back to where she could heal from all that had come before. It also had the advantage of steady employment and a loft apartment. Oh, and her best friend in the world.

But of course, it could not be that easy, could it?

ONE

Colby: I’m not giving up on us. XO

The Evolution of TJ Wilde: Run Aground, Pt 3

abstract painting of a man playing guitar — Mo Guitar by Maurice Evans

…and then the murders began.

Each chapter was sent out to family and friends, just so I wasn’t writing in a void. I needed their feedback, which I accepted gratefully. What I also got were demands for the next chapter and the next. Five chapters in, I realized I was indeed, writing a novel. Besides, by that time, TJ, Colby, Nick, et al, were very much alive for me and I wanted to see how their stories would end. For some, not so great…

The Evolution of TJ Wilde: Run Aground, Pt 2

Once it was established who TJ was running from and where she was running to, there were many other questions to be answered. The problem was, I didn’t want to write a novel. I had just left my job and opened my own business. There was soon to be a Great Dane puppy arriving, and house hunting…and life. A novel was a commitment.

But TJ would not remain silent. And then Colby showed up. If I were to get any peace, the road ahead for them had to be written.

TWO

The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark. – Michelangelo

Furry Friday: Cats Being Silly, Again

Tuxedo cat under a sawhorse in the grass

Reggie has claimed the sawhorse as his own playhouse. He hangs out under there, uses it like a balance beam, and occasionally sleeps under there. Silly boy.