Back when I did the Kickstarter for Wherever Would I Be, one of the ‘add ons’ was to have a character named after them in my work in progress (a murder mystery). Because writing and publishing books takes a long time, I thought I’d give an update on how that’s going.
I should note – when I included this as an add on, I hadn’t anticipated eight people taking me up on this. 🙂 Because of this, I offered an alternative to a couple folks. One of them is my friend Jake, who shows up in my YA Goode vs Melville; another, my friend Ashley, will be in my Anne of Green Gables world novel (though she’ll make a small appearance in the murder mystery because who knows when that will make it out into the world).
In addition to having too many bodies to drop, even in a serial-killer story, there were some people I couldn’t bring myself to off even on paper. One such person was an elementary/middle school teacher from my childhood that I’m still in touch with, Nancy Akerly, who instead works in the records department.
Another is my friend, Brady – who is aged quite a bit in the story and becomes the retired-detective-turned-bar/bakery-owner source outside the precinct who will be key in solving the case. He’s also the one who introduced me to whiskey old fashioneds back in the day – for which I will be eternally grateful.
The last survivor is Julie, who has become the captain of the precinct – and who, in real life, uses red to indicate to those around her when she’s in a foul mood. This detail has been a lot of fun to thread throughout the story.
So far, there is one body dropped on the page – the first case Moz takes on after getting a job in Madison, WI – Ryder Kirac, a play on my friend’s name that is close enough that if you know her, you know this is her namesake.
Two others are dead before the start of the book, but their cases come back into play as they uncover a serial killer loose in the city – Jess Knox and Nissa Norton.
One of the stretch goals I had on the Kickstarter was the chance to get to have Moz’s pet modeled and named after their own – and I loved when I found out that Jess Knox had set a timer for when this would be opened. 🙂 And don’t worry – I’m not a monster. Dunkin survives the story. (Though this kitty’s spelling is Duncan; in the story, he’s a stray she takes in and names for his security blanket, i.e. security Dunkin wrapper.)
I’m about halfway through writing the first draft of the manuscript. I spent the last eight months editing two other different manuscripts, one of which was launched in June, so I am BEYOND excited to get back to writing.
Also super thankful to all the above folks for supporting WWIB and being a part of this (currently untitled) murder mystery story. 🙂
Ami Maxine 