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.