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What is there to say? I’m still in self-imposed exile from the human race (like the guy in the picture), but I’ve been reading and writing up a storm! Though the isolation is difficult, I’ve also been filling my time by toying with Recurring. The manuscript needs to be longer and now I find I’ll have to add 4,000 more words, which amounts to roughly 16 manuscript pages. This is easier said than done. Depending on the author, this means one very long chapter or two rather short ones. I’m partial to longer chapters (for some reason short chapters seem too choppy for my taste), but I guess it depends on how well it’s done. The idea of padding a manuscript makes me sick. I’ve seen it done and it usually doesn’t add much to a storyline. Some talented authors do manage to do this successfully, but it almost feels like cheating to me.

Speaking of successful writers (especially one in particular who would never dream of padding a manuscript to meet a word count), I promised my brilliant friend and fellow author Jane Kelly that I’d mention her latest book, Greetings From Ventnor City, on this post.

As you can probably guess by the title, Jane sets her Meg Daniels Mystery series right here in good old New Jersey. If you yearn for the beach and are cooped-up at home, this clever book will whisk you away on a mental vacation. I’ve read it and it’s the perfect escape – down the shore and into the past as sleuth Meg Daniels tracks down a flower child gone missing decades ago. It’s available in both Kindle and paperback. If you’re interested, click here.

Meanwhile, I’ve put other projects on hold because I’m working on a new series with the meanest group of women writers on the planet. These are gals you’ll really love to hate and I hope some very clever publisher picks it up soon. I’ll go into more detail in a later post, but boy, I admire characters who say exactly what they think with no filter and no concern about whom they might offend! What fun!

To close, let me wish everybody a Happy 4^th! Be safe, remain healthy and stay the **** away from your fellow Americans!