From the Scriptorium: Book It!

From the Scriptorium: Book It!: Why all this stuff about my books? Well, I'll tell you. When I became more disabled with my Post Polio, I knew something had to change in ...

Book It!

Why all this stuff about my books?  Well, I'll tell you.  When I became more disabled with my Post Polio, I knew something had to change in my life.  Gone was my ability to be out on the road in sales - which saddened me greatly.  Gone was my mobility, added was arthritis in my hands, ankles, shoulders, back and knees.  What joy!  NOT.  So, I needed to do something to earn a living and at age 55, I decided to write a novel.  How stupid could I get?  Plenty.

When I was in college, I took writing courses as part of my degree - English, of course.  I'd written a lot as a child, mostly those silly childhood poems Mom posted on the fridge door and I thought I could draw on that past experience and education. Hmm - faulty memory strikes again.  One thing I did learn is to fine tune your craft BEFORE you begin.  Gone was my common sense, proper punctuation, quotation mark placement, yata yata yata.  Oh the content and story lines were great - and so is the writing, but technically?  I didn't have a clue.  And once the books were in print, it would cost my first born to change them...so I was stuck....and still am.

But I began to learn.  I dealt with rejection from publishers - over 300 of them.  Newbies rarely get noticed by a reputable publisher unless you know someone who knows someone else. I found what I thought was a wonderful publisher and in actuality, it didn't turn out that way.  The publishing business was in the process of changing radically.  EBooks weren't thought of yet, but marketing and strategies were.  Publishing was a whole new ballgame and I wasn't ready.  I was wearing my rose colored glasses then.  They certainly aren't on now.

My first novel, Northwoods Forest Mystery, introduces my main characters, Roan Sanderson and Shauna McGuire, college friends at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.  They'd lost touch over the years then re-established their friendship after Shauna's husband died in a tornado.  She and her son Conor come home to Minnesota after the funeral but no one expects these friends to fall in love and marry. However they do and this story begins a four-book saga of their lives and those of their friends - and enemies.  It crosses continents and decades, plus the first book sets the stage for a mystery which began many years earlier in a logging camp in Bemidji, Minnesota.  A crime was committed - yes.  But not by the innocent man who was convicted.  Roan and his friends work diligently to solve the mystery and bonds are formed which cannot be broken, not even by death.  We meet some absolutely wonderful characters (including Franco, the goofy waiter and Miss Lulabelle Lavinia LaFontaine, Doyenne of literary societies, plus a religious sister who sports a visible tattoo) and folks who you will remember long after you've read the books.  There is love and heartbreak, great joy and much sadness we can all relate to.

This is an excellent first book, but as I mentioned earlier, it is my first foray into writing, so technically I am not pleased.  I have, however, re-written it so it IS technically correct and ready for a new publisher.

The second book, Death Across the Pond, deals with the loss of a character's sight due to a plane crash.  It also introduces a dark character - an internationally sought assassin who begins to follow Roan and Shauna on a European honeymoon. What follows is a deepening mystery - one which will test their faith and strength in dealing with the devil.

There are new relatives introduced, some of which are quite strange (and we all seem to have those, don't we?).  One is a serial murderer, but what happens to him and how is he connected to the 'Ghost'?  "Death" begins to take the characters deeper and deeper into a psychological mystery with plot twists one wouldn't expect.

Book three, The 'Ghost' in Bolton Hall, moves the Sanderson family into an entirely new direction as they restore an ancient family manor house in England, but the 'Ghost' follows them to Britain and wreaks havoc on the family and the people of Bolton-by-Bowland in Lancashire.  This time, we see history, generations of family pride, ownership and greed - greed by the 'Ghost' who plots revenge for the death of his wife and greed from a gaggle of shady characters with centuries of ties to the Sandersons.  The family story line has now become dark and sinister, but with the addition of several new characters - and I do mean characters, the Sanderson family and friends are able to move forward again, only to have their hard work destroyed in a fire.  And Roan must deal with heartbreak and the death of a beloved family member.  This story line never stops moving.

                                                                   
The final book, Murder and Pasta Don't Mix, wraps up the Sanderson saga and goes back and forth between Ireland, Italy, the UK and the States, with Franco, the nutty Italian actually becoming a mature man in love, who, unfortunately, gets his heart broken by his childhood sweetheart.  The Sandersons find out they have inherited a large plot of farm land in Tuscany, near Franco's family home town and what insues is hysterically funny, but also a dangerous time for the Sandersons.  The 'Ghost' is still on the loose - but not for long and they also encounter a crime boss out for his own style of revenge.

These are adult, family-oriented novels (not for children under 18).  Yes, there is violence in them, a tiny bit of blue language, hysterically funny bits and definitely romance, but no sex scenes.  When I began writing these books, it was because the members of a Mom's group I belong to said they didn't like all the gratuitous sex in novels today and could someone try to write a book they could all read?  I took that challenge and ended up writing not one book, but four.  I simply couldn't stop.  But I accomplished my goal and now I was a published writer.

You can find all my book titles listed on our family web site at: http://www.thecookcompanies.com/ and it will give you a few links on how to purchase them.  The eBooks are there, too.  And those are the ones I am most proud of.

And now, being part Irish, I think I will imbibe with one of the famous Irish brews: 

'Tis a grand way to spend an evening, relaxin' by the fire with a pint and good friends.  (I know, I don't have a fireplace - but I can dream, can't I?)