Back with Isabel Long

Writing No. 8 in my mystery series

Once again, I am back at it, that is, solving a cold case with Isabel Long, the protagonist of my mystery series.

I officially began Finding the Source, the eighth in the series, last Dec. 3, and had hoped to wrap it up in six months or so. But then in mid-March I received the unsettling news my publisher darkstroke books would be closing in six months. My nine books would be released during that period, including Missing the Deadline, which darkstroke had published only weeks before this announcement.

The first thing I decided was no more begging. No more queries to agents (I had two over the years) or indie publishers. I would do it myself. Of course, that meant I had to learn how to format my books for Kindle and paperback. Laurence Patterson, darkstroke’s co-publisher, would supply amended covers, for which I am grateful. He also gave me guidance on formatting and importantly, advised me to get my books back on Amazon after each one was released.

Fortunately, I was approached by Bloodhound Books, a UK-based publisher that was interested in acquiring the first three books in the series — Chasing the Case, Redneck’s Revenge, and Checking the Traps.

After research and emailed conversations with Betsy Reavley, the director, I felt my books would have a good home at Bloodhound. The three books will be released together Nov. 15. My hope is that they do so well, Boodhound will want the rest of the series. Betsy also encouraged me to republish the three books — I just had to take them down in late August.

I will admit it took a great deal of brain power and patience to teach myself how to republish my books. But I also saw it as an opportunity to go through each one carefully yet again, finding words there and there to change. One by one I republished each one, ending just after Sept. 30.

And so, except for Substack posts, I put my writing aside during this time. Finding the Source was only 8,000 short of the usual word count for my mysteries, which is around 75,000. Isabel and I were zeroing on who was the culprit.

The big question was how could I pick up where I left off? I honestly couldn’t just sit down at the computer. Too many months had passed. So, I printed what I had written before and went through it deliberately, so I would be once again immersed in its story. (Of course, I found stuff to change.)

On Monday, I officially began moving forward again. I typically aim for 500 words a day, which is an amount I feel creates meaningful writing and an enjoyable experience. But I also found, delightfully, I might add, myself once again thinking about Isabel’s case and how we can solve it together. That typically happens in the shower, driving, doing yard work, going for a walk. I like having my book be the last thing I’m thinking before I fall asleep.

So. what’s Finding the Source about? I was inspired by an experience that happened in my hometown when I was approached outside the library by a stranger telling me his mother had been murdered 47 years ago and the case was never solved. He even told me her name. When I did online research, the story is true.

In this book, Isabel is approached outside a city library by a man who tells her a similar story about his mother. Unlike the man I met in real life, this one is homeless. In most of her other cases, Isabel was hired to determine whether a person’s death could have been murder. This time, there is no question that’s what happened to the victim. Unfortunately for Isabel, this murder happened 43 years ago, so many of the people close to the case are dead. Plus, the case would bring her back to Dillard, where once again she must deal with a police chief who has made her life extremely difficult. But that doesn’t stop Isabel from trying.

I am a happy writer being in the thick of it again.