I am truly blessed with a great group of readers, editors, proofreaders, and media experts. That said, I have to single out Brian Johnson, who is not only a tuba-playing character in the Whistling Pines books, he's also a friend and my Whistling Pines muse.
I'd completed the Whistling Artist outline, an opening chapter, and had a few characters in mind when I received an email from Brian. "Here's a plot for our next Whistling Pines mystery. The title will be Whistling Fireman, and it's going to feature the fire chief you introduced in Whistling Artist."
"Sparky, the quirky fire chief?" I asked
"Quirky isn't the right adjective for Sparky. Maybe eccentric or unusual would be more fitting."
Trying to refocus, I replied. "Brian, I'm only 60 pages into Whistling Artist. Can we focus on that for now?"
"But Dean, I've got this great plot and if I don't tell you now, it'll slip away. It's going to feature..."
At this point I was looking for an "eye roll" emoji to insert in my reply. As usually happens, Brian ignored my pleas for him to set aside the new plot while I wrote Whistling Artist. I filed Brian's 3-page (Yes three pages of plot, characters, settings, and twists) and continued my efforts to complete Whistling Artist.
I truly appreciate Brian's enthusiasm. And his plot ideas are always wonderfully twisted. I rearrange his random ideas into a cohesive story that both of us feel good about releasing.
What's even more fun is getting to the end. I send him the first draft for comment. He always responds, usually offering clarification on locations or plot issues. With Whistling Artist, I got an unexpected correction. "YOU CAN NOT USE..." He went on to explain that I needed to rename the fictional art instructor. "I don't know where you came up with that name (I often pull names out of phone books and obituaries to get the regional feel correct). You used my high school art teacher's name for the instructor. Change it! She was a teetotaler and to use her name as the drunken art instructor would cause no end of chaos in town.
I laughed, then changed the name.
Brain's response was quick. "Thanks. By the way, I have a plot of the book after Whistling Fireman."
That three-page email is saved. I'll look at it at some point in late 2023 after Whistling Fireman is complete.
In the meanwhile, I'm preparing for the January release of The Last Rodeo, the next Doug Fletcher mystery set in the Black Hills, the May release of Taxed to Death, a Pine County mystery, and Peril in Paradise, a Doug Fletcher mystery set in Hawaii.
Then I read about rangers finding an abandoned campsite in a remote part of Glacier National Park. It appeared there were two campers staying in the site, there were signs that a Grizzly bear had shredded their tent, but the campers hadn't been seen since the previous spring. A great opening for the next Doug Fletcher mystery. I told Deanna, my cop consultant about it. Her response, "Focus! You've already got plots for two 2024 Fletcher mysteries."
If you look at it just right, like you do, the world is full of endless plotlines. You go, Dean!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your reply! I am blessed with unending plot ideas and friends who help when I've written myself into a corner.
DeleteI understand your problem but it's really a blessing. You will never run out of words to tell stories to your readers
ReplyDeleteI have been guilty to use a secondary character in an early book in a series and make him/her the protagonist of the next book in the series. To me, it's more like "too many characters, too little time to tell their stories." Thanks for sharing.
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