Getting my feet wet

As most of you probably know, I've signed a contract to write a series of science fiction romance for Entangled Publishing.

I had no plans of ever writing science fiction, and I can't really explain how it happened. The character was just there one day, insisting on having his story told, and that was it.

Romance, though, is a genre I'm familiar with. Back in the late 1990s, when I first thought it might be fun to write, I joined the fabulous Music City Romance Writers, and even entered - and won - their annual contest, the Melody of Love, in what I think was its inaugural year, 1998. My entry was the first chapter of a story called A Fine Romance, which is lost in the ether, for which I think we should all be grateful.

No, it wasn't bad. It won, after all. But it's been twelve or thirteen years. I'm a better writer now.

Anyway, I started having kids after that, and five years later, when I went back to writing, murder mysteries came more easily to me. I'm not saying there's a correlation, just stating a fact.

Since 2005, I've written twelve mysteries. The fact that I now have to go back to writing romance, a very different discipline, is a little scary to me.

So to ease into things I posted a romantic short story on Smashwords last night. (I posted it on Amazon and B&N too, but I have to charge for it there. And since it's only 3,400 words, I'm not expecting anything big to happen. But on Smashwords it's free.) And so far, in just over 24 hours, it's had more than 130 downloads. Which may not amount to a hill of beans by some people's standards. I'm pretty sure I sell a lot more than that of the DIY mysteries, actually. But in just a day, it's my biggest "selling" title.

Which I guess bodes pretty well for the science fiction mysteries.

At any rate, if anyone is interested in reading a short, sexy story about a desk clerk in an upscale hotel, and the two guests who arrive and check into adjoining rooms, feel free to download a copy HERE.

Enjoy!

Mrs. White in the kitchen with the candlestick

The game Cluedo - or Clue in America - was created in 1944 by Anthony Pratt, a solicitor's clerk in Birmingham, England. The first version of the game was published in 1949 by the Waddington company, based in Leeds. Hasbro eventually bought out Waddington, and now publishes Clue all over the world. Miss Scarlet, Mrs. Peacock, Colonel Mustard and Professor Plum have become household names.

Earlier this year, friend Jeannie Holmes, author of the Alexandra Sabian paranormal mysteries, very innocently asked me to do a guest blog for her on 7 Criminal Minds, since she was on deadline and couldn't do her own scheduled post.

"You'll really like the prompt," she said.

Blithely, I agreed. It was just around the time when Mortar and Murder was released, so the timing seemed fortuitous.

Until she sent me the prompt.

“The Clue characters are locked in a winter lodge. Mr. Boddy is found dead in a snowdrift with no visible signs of trauma. Who did it and how do you prove it using just the things in the lodge?”

Well, I wrote the blog, called The Boddy in the Snowbank. It worked out all right. And two nights ago, after a game of Clue with my kids, I decided to give it a cover and upload it to Smashwords.

Since then it's had - as of this writing - almost 70 downloads and a 5-star rating from everyone who's reviewed it.

Not bad for a silly little short story Jeannie roped me into writing!

If you'd like to check it out, feel free to click on the link and download a copy. It's free, since I couldn't in good conscience charge anything for a 1,600 word story. Enjoy!