Oh, So Exhausting, Trudy.

In 2011 - I came up with this great idea for a book. What a dodo?? I realize now. It took me four years to write Case One-The Deceit and another three years to get it published. Against the advice of almost everyone I knew in the literary world, I wrote speculative fiction and a novel that wove two stories into one.

Not only have I done that once, but now four more times-so. No longer is it a rookie mistake but a bit of dumbfuckery on my part.

The hours of research I did to make sure the facts were correct, like what type of birth control did they use in the nineteen twenties to learning facts about Voodoo and hoodoo and the ancient conceptions. And good lord, what the hell did I know about Bigfoot and the Iroquois Indians? (a hell of a lot now, I can tell you.) Also, I had to consider the proper terminology used in the dialogue depicting the era of the story I was writing. Yes, our ancestors spoke a bit differently than we do.

Now being a medium, I can write about ghosts all day, and quite truthfully, these spirits help communicate the story. Thank you, Marion Davies, for the glimpse into your life so I could lend credibility to Case One.

But the hours and hours of research and then figuring out the plot and sprinkling those red herrings among the pages because each edition is a Case and a mystery must be solved.

With mystery comes suspense, suspense, and more suspense... Ahhhhh my brain was so exhausted building that suspense.

And yes...I remember those romance writers in groups on Facebook and Twitter saying things like, ”Oh yikes, another paranormal story.”

Well, they were right, and they knew something I did not.

They knew that It's so much easier to write a romance novel!

Hello! I started The Ruby Door eight weeks ago, during treatments, and the first draft is done.

I mean, of course, it's twisted, and the characters are complex, but the only research I had to do was understanding the difference between an M16 and an AK-47.😘

Oh yeah. I love my badass female protagonists.😎