This us the second of the series. Part of the inspiration came from a friend who plays the organ. I often enjoyed spending time listening to his mastery of music. He's nothing like the character of the book except for being an excellent musician.
I think the best tip I ever received about writing came many, many years ago. I went to a day in Pittsburgh where a writer whose name I can't remember gave a lecture on writing. One thing that stuck in my mind was "Finish the book." The author spoke of how so many people set off to write a book and when they reach an impasse, they give up and start a new project. He also said that by finishing and writing the End you now could return and look at the various areas to see where you fell short or even avoided. That really made me think. I looked at several of those stories I'd begun and then left hanging. I decided to work on one of them. In the changing the story changed but not in the essentials. The book ahs been called And So We Walk on Eggshells. It became MUrder and Mint Tea. The only thing I wish i had changed when I was writing was putting the story in first person. Even so, this book has survived since 1998 and is still earning a bit of money.
Since I'm meandering today, here's a bit about life here. I'm 89, going on 90 and life has crawled but not slow enough for rest. Writing new stories will continue until I can't write.
I've also begun thinking about Christmas stockings, I have a lot that I do every year and it's time to start buying things to put in these stockings and sending boxes to my distant families.
Writing on my current book is into the next to the last draft and there are many words needed to be added to make this a book rather than a novella. So I must get back to work.
Happy anniversary of sorts. Murder and Mint Tea has been in print and e-book since 1999. Over the years, there have been some changes in the story but it's essentially the same tale. When I write this initially cell phones weren't much in evidence and they were large, not like the ones today. Families drove stations not minivans. So some updating had to be done. Murder and Mint Tea takes place in a Hudson River village, much like the one where I live today. There are some places in the story that are no-longer in existence. The shop where antique automobiles were shown in the window is now a restaurant. For the story, I returned some places that are gone. The book is the first of Katherine Miller's adventures.
Here is the blurb: Katherine is a retired nurse and a retired church organist. The small Hudson River village where she lives in her Victorian “Painted Lady” makes her the neighborhood matriarch. Along with her Maine Coon Cat Robespierre, she guards friends and families.
Murder and Mint Tea is a gem in its genre, combining the voice of a classic American whodunit with that of a traditional British detective novel. Murder She Wrote meets Miss Marple in a beautifully crafted tale that makes the reader want to reach into the pages and dispense justice to the villainess themselves. ~ Writer Gail Roughton
This is the most reviewed book of my stories
