Lucy is Editing A SCONE OF CONTENTION #Writing

 LUCY BURDETTE: Not every stage of writing is as much fun as every other--not by a long shot. And the stages don't feel the same for every author. For me, the first draft is a monster. There's simply nothing to be done but slog forward with the word count, get feedback from trusted friends, and hope it all comes together in some magical way. 

And then comes the editorial letter and comments--that's where I am this week with A SCONE OF CONTENTION, the 11th Key West mystery, coming to a bookstore near you next summer. (This week, I learned that that the Crooked Lane team chose that for the new title--I love it! Another title had been selected first, but after mulling it over, I decided it was (a) too silly and (b) unrelated to the content of the book. So I begged for a change and my people agreed. Phew!) I will not bore you with the horrible details, but my computer failed last Thursday. I've only yesterday gotten it back so I can get to work. What did I do in the meanwhile? Bake cinnamon scones, which are featured in the book. (Recipe will come later...)

Anyway, back to edits. I feel very, very lucky to have scored Sandy Harding as my outside editor--she bought the series for NAL back in 2010. She understands the series, the characters, and the whole point of mysteries, cozier mysteries in particular. Here's a little example of a comment early in the manuscript next to the section where I described Hayley's new home--you'll see what I mean, she actually believes in the characters as I do. (If you can't read it, she said "This has been such a lovely description. I'm so glad she gets to live here!")

It's been such a horrible year between the pandemic and politics. So I adored writing this book, reliving some of my favorite places from our trip to Scotland last year and taking Hayley and her gang to visit. I have lots of work to do--mostly beefing up the murderer's motives so you believe that he or she is capable of the deadly deeds. But the comments all ring true so I know it will be stronger once I think and tweak. I will share the description that Sandy was referring to, so you can pretend you live on Hayley and Nathan's houseboat too...

I got up from my lounge chair on the teak deck and walked into our new houseboat, our home. Nathan and I had been living here two weeks and I still had to pinch myself to believe it was real. Though we’d spent months pouring over plans and many more months waiting for workers and materials to show up, the outcome was, in a word, stunning—without a whiff of flashy.

Our builder, Chris, had managed to secure Dade county pine lumber from a demolition project that now found a new life as my kitchen counters and drawers. He’d also managed to find Dave Combs, an amazing contractor and woodworker who helped to execute our dream to polished reality. At the deep end of the counter, he had built shelves where I lined up my pottery containers of baking supplies, and above that, vertical slats for my prettiest plates and, a little higher, a glass-fronted cabinet for the flowered blue china mugs and teapot that had been handed down from my grandmother’s kitchen. There was a separate shelf for my cookbooks and a gas stove on which every burner worked without coaxing or danger of explosion, and even a special cabinet that exactly fit the mammoth food processor that my mother-in-law had given us as a wedding present. From a wrought iron rack on the wall and ceiling over the stove hung an assortment of pots and pans, whisks, cheese grater boxes, and the other tools of my trade. 

Though I wrote food criticism for a living, I lived for feeding my family and friends. The new kitchen made that activity almost purely pleasurable. There were of course trade-offs that came automatically with living on a houseboat— neighbors were close by and the water all around us amplified every sound. That meant we shared our neighbors’ music, no matter the genre. And we heard every woof and meow from every furry resident. And space was at a premium. That meant that our bed, three steps up from the double oven at the end of the kitchen, was built into the wall of the bedroom with reasonable walk-in space only on his side and a smaller mattress than a well-muscled man might prefer. As newlyweds, we did not find this close proximity to be a drawback. And we loved waking up in the morning and looking out on our aqua blue watery world.

How about you Reds? Is there something you've read or written or worked on this year that has taken your mind off the horrors for a little bit of time?

And by the way, if you haven't yet read DEATH ON THE MENU (#8), or have a friend who might enjoy it--the ebook is on sale for $1.99!