May 25 Update ~ *Portrait with Death*

 

Here's the check-in for  Portrait with Death.

Rough Draft is 100% finished! That's the first celebration. Word count reached 79,000+ words.

Final Draft is coming along. Yes, I started it before I finished the rough draft. That's becoming a standard MO.  Currently it's at 18,000+ words. 

I think the Final Draft will run about 10,000 words longer than the Rough Draft, so typing in at 90,000 -- maybe. It could be longer. We'll have to see. The goal was 80,000, so currently the MS is 23% of the goal.

What is after the Final Draft?

• Revision and Proof-Plus.
• What is Proof-Plus? Cycles of proofreading and corrections. Then formatting for ebook and paperback. I haven't contracted for the paperback yet. I hope to have the ebook out in July while the paperback will be ready by the end of the year.
• Book description (or the market copy) still needs to be written. Promotional posts need to be planned. Advertising for the series completion needs to occur.
• I've touched into the market copy but only barely. It's in extremely rough shape, but I can see the form it will take. Now to finish that form, tighten it severely, and punch up the sales language.

Research that has happened since the May 10 update

• cruise ships of 1920
• travel time from Great Britain to India
• Calcutta is now Kalkuta.
• Ordnance Maps

Actually, I had more research than this, but I forgot to write it down.

Now that Final Draft is coming along, the Masterbook for this book and for the Isabella Newcombe series has become essential. I'm dipping into it for names, descriptions, items in use, the map of Greavley Abbey School grounds, and much more.

Writing the Story

I really like how the circular ending of the Rough Draft, placing Isabella as well as Flick in the similar situations as their introductions in the book. I managed to do the same, in miniature, for Michael Wainwright, the detective inspector for Scotland Yard. We first met him in Christmas with Death.

This novel is also creating the next 1920s mystery.

• Flick and Michael will definitely star.
• The series and book titles are still up in the air, but I have done research on their first story. 
• Two murders will happen, and the perpetrator as well as other suspects have identified themselves. Not much more, though.
• Sgt. Callaway, Michael's bagman, will play a much larger role. Alicia Osterley (Owl, introduced in Christmas with Death) and Chauncey Sherborne, Flick's brother, will play larger roles. Not quite minor but definitely not major.
• Several people mentioned in Portrait with Death will become tertiary characters.

Working this book through the Final Draft stage is still F.U.N. !!!!

I often lose interest in the final draft; not this time.

Watch for Portrait with Death.

Then watch for the Into Death bundle.

After PwD publishes, the bundle for the Into Death trilogy will have to be formatted. 

It will be available later in the year. I won't promise a month, not yet.

Can I love a cover design in triplicate? 

I love these individual cover designs.
I love that the Digging Into Death (fav of the 3) is the dominant image.
I love that all three cover designs are on this cover.

May 10 Update

 

Here's the check-in for  Portrait with Death.

Word Count for the very Rough Draft = over 70,000 words. That's 87% of the goal.

The Final Draft is started. It's over 15,000 words. It's running longer than the very rough draft.

• Revision and Proof-Plus come after the Final Draft is finished.
• What is Proof-Plus? The cycles of proofreading and corrections followed by formatting for ebook and paperback. I haven't contracted for the paperback yet. I hope to have the ebook out in July while the paperback will be ready by the end of the year.
• Book description (or the market copy) still needs to be written. Promotional posts need to be planned. Advertising for the series completion needs to occur.

Research that has happened since the May 1 update

• reasons that men were not conscripted for service in Great Britain for WW1.
• London Library
• architectural styles in England
• public telephones in 1920
• what teachers at British Public Schools are called
• art supplies / oil paints / turpentine
• asphalt / macadam / bitumen
• typical British surnames starting with C
• Ambulances in 1920: size / appearance / sound
• wounds caused by broken glass

I had broken glass at the end of book 1, Digging into Death, and it's coming back for the end of the final book of the series, Portrait with Death.

Writing the Story

Witnesses.

An arrest.

Interviews.

More with Isabella and Flick and Michael. 

Yesterday I poured out over 2,000 words on the rough draft and over 2,500 on the final draft. This story is just pouring out. I think I'm going to write my minimum for the day. When I look up from a writing session, I've doubled that -- which is excellent.

Writing this book is F.U.N. !!!!

Watch for Portrait with Death.

Also coming after PwD publishes will be the Into Death bundle, available later in the year.

1st May Update for the Current Work in Progress

Here's the check-in for  Portrait with Death.

Word Count for the very Rough Draft = over 41,000 words. That's 51% of the goal.

•     The Final Draft / Revision / Proof-plus come after the Rough Draft is finished

Research that has happened since the April 21 update

• Forms (grade levels) in the British Public Schools
• shipping freighters
• golf
• vintage garden tools
• photography: prints, enlargement, and more
• more on cameras available in 1920.
• field hospitals in the Great War

Writing the Story

The murder has occurred. 

Suspects abound, including one that I wasn't expecting.

Lots of red herrings and real clues.

Isabella Newcombe Tarrant is sharing the viewpoint with Flick Sherborne, a garden photographer, and Detective Inspector Michael Wainwright. We first met DI Wainwright in Christmas with Death. The commanding officer of Madoc Tarrant in WWI, he investigated the murder in XmasW/D.

• This is a change from the previous two books, told from Isabella's viewpoint alone.
• I planned for Flick's viewpoint from the beginning.
• I didn't plan for DI Wainwright's viewpoint. He insisted on a viewpoint. Since I approved of what he brought to the story, I was amenable to his injection into the story. 

The story is flowing smoothly, and I'm reaching my daily goals without difficulty. (I have had great writing trouble with a couple of published books: 3 solid months of stoppage on The Key for Spies and the ever-expanding story of The Hazard with Secrets). Not this time, though!

I'm on track for publication this summer. Yey!

Watch for Portrait with Death.

Also coming after PwD publishes will be the Into Death bundle, available later in the year.