Between Projects
Terry Odell
Now What?
Last time, I talked about performing surgery on my manuscript. What now?
The manuscript is as good as I’m going to get it, so it’s ready for my editor. My changes aren’t making it better, only different. What do I do while it’s in her hands?
There are many, an earlier version of myself included, who would be jumping in to the next book. But this one isn’t really “done.”
There’s a lot more than finishing the manuscript.
- There’s adding its page to my website.
- There’s waiting for my cover designer who had the nerve to go to Ireland for a family wedding.
- There’s Front and Back matter. Don’t want to leave anyone out of the acknowledgments.
- Do I want to line up a narrator?
- Is this going to be a stand alone, or will there be sequels, or connected books.
- Am I going to put it up for preorder? I want to release it in early October so it doesn’t hit the holiday themed books. Is it worth it for a short time?
- Line up my early readers who get ARCs for reviews.
I’ve started one task: The book description that’ll go on the sales channels’ book pages. That might do double-duty as the back cover copy, once it’s ready to be formatted for print. Here it is.
When the camera lies, who do you trust?
Evvie Gale and Colton Hughes are dog park friends—nothing more. Until deep fake photographs threaten to end both their careers.
Evvie changed her name after a childhood trauma. She’s spent years perfecting the art of not being seen, working behind the lens instead of being in front of it.
Evvie built a quiet life behind the camera, exactly where she wants to be—out of the frame, out of sight. So when the gallery owner who’s carried her work for years drops her without explanation, she doesn’t just lose income. She loses the one identity she’s allowed herself to keep. Determined to find out what happened, she starts digging—and uncovers humiliating deep fake photographs.
Colton left the Wyoming cattle ranch he grew up on and never looked back—done with the hard labor, the long hours, and the debt that came with every bad season. In Colorado Springs, he found riding a desk beat riding a saddle.
A claim crosses his desk with supporting photos that feel “off.” His boss wants the claim approved and closed. Colton brings the photos to the one person he trusts to see what he can’t— his dog park friend, Evvie. She agrees to take a closer look.
When a family emergency calls Colton back to the ranch, he convinces Evvie to come with him. What he finds is that Evvie has brought more than her camera, a secret from her past that could bring danger to the Hughes family.
Feel free to share your thoughts.
And then some non-book-related things.
- Take more time to read.
- Work on Substack posts.
- See what’s on the tube. Wonder why we still call it that. Or is that only me?
- Get outside more—if it cools down. Don’t forget the camera.
- Work on the details for my upcoming trip, including convincing the Hubster he needs some more appropriate clothing.
- Watch the bears catching salmon at explore.org
- Have a little fun. Does anyone remember Sniglets? Words that aren’t words but should be?
Examples:
- Aquadextrous: Turning the bathtub faucet on or off with your toes.
- Bovilexia: The strong urge to yell “moo!” when you drive past a cow.
- Cinemuck: The sticky mix of dropped soda, melted chocolate, and popcorn on a theater floor.
- Lerplexed: Trying to look up a word in the dictionary, but failing because you do not know how to spell it.
- Mustgo: Leftover food hidden in the back of the fridge until it turns into a science project.
- Pupkus: The wet smudge a dog leaves on a window when it presses its nose against the glass.
- Snackmosphere: The large pocket of empty air inside a bag of potato chips.
What do you do “between” projects? Jump into the next or take a little “me” time?
And, on a final note: Another reason I’m glad I sell wide. That world’s largest river has decided to drop the price on my three Blackthorne, Inc. box sets. Three novels each. No warning, no way of knowing how long it’ll go on. So, they’re cutting my out of a chunk of my royalties on those sales. (No, they do NOT pay royalties on the price I set. Yes, I checked.) The other sales channels are selling the sets at the price I set.
If you’d like to take advantage of these price reductions, you can find the sets here:
I have no idea how long this price will be in effect.
Find me at Substack with Writings and Wanderings
Deadly Ambitions
Peace in Mapleton doesn’t last. Police Chief Gordon Hepler is already juggling a bitter ex-mayoral candidate who refuses to accept election results and a new council member determined to cut police department’s funding.
Meanwhile, Angie’s long-delayed diner remodel uncovers an old journal, sparking her curiosity about the girl who wrote it. But as she digs for answers, is she uncovering more than she bargained for?
Now, Gordon must untangle political maneuvering, personal grudges, and hidden agendas before danger closes in on the people he loves most.
Deadly Ambitions delivers small-town intrigue, political tension, and page-turning suspense rooted in both history and today’s ambitions.
Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”