It’s not uncommon for people to ask me how I go about writing a book. Where do I begin? Do I have a thousand ideas? How long does it take? How many drafts do I do? How do I choose what to write? Is it hard?
Those questions, which I’m guessing many writer friends have heard (and many more), aren’t always the same. For me, every book is a different experience, and while I give my all to everything I write, each book has its unique challenges. For some reason unbeknownst to me, I keep raising the bar for myself. Let me explain.
When I wrote Hotel Obscure: A Collection of Short Stories, it was my first book of short stories, but they weren’t disparate. They all took place in the same location—with characters often appearing in multiple stories.
Because I finished that, I decided to write The Waiting House: A Novel in Stories, a book in which separate stories all become part of an overall story arc. Never thought I’d get through that one, but I did it.
In Twice a Broken Breath, my suspense thriller set in New York City, I wrote the entire novel in a male voice. For whatever reason, that book was kind to me, and while every book has its major road blocks, I always knew I’d see the finish line.
My new book, What the Years Remember, is a suspense/psychological drama novel that’s also set in New York City. In fact, some of the characters from Twice a Broken Breath play a supporting role in this story. But this book, as I not so affectionately called it as I wrote, was “the brain breaker.” How did I raise the bar for myself here? First, this novel has multiple narrators—something also almost new to me. And I didn’t expect to weave such a dense fabric. So many threads!
In fact, What the Years Remember took a long time to initially take shape. I had several vague, but related ideas, and while they sounded good in a few sentences, I knew they weren’t ideas that I could effectively or passionately write. I didn’t think the ideas that plagued me for months would ever take shape. Until one did. And I wrote, and wrote, and wrote. This book had a lot of threads to tie together, but I kept finding more.
I’ve lost count of the number of drafts I did. At least twelve. This book underwent major surgery multiple times. But finally, the “patient” was as well as this doctor of words could make it. I got to know the characters in ways I hadn’t imagined. Their secrets, which might have stayed hidden had I not persevered, revealed themselves.
Here’s the blurb:
Growing up in New York’s Hudson Valley, fraternal twins Amber and Jade were always different. Amber, somewhat shy and affable, is a happy, well-liked child. Jade, often angry, laments from an early age that others have what she covets. As the girls grow up, Jade’s jealousy escalates. Dangerously so.
At sixteen, enraged by their classmate Michael’s affection for Amber, Jade lures her sister to an abandoned lot, shoves her onto concrete, and leaves her for dead. Knowing Jade would try again, her parents agree to fake her death. Amber moves to New York City with her father, and Jade moves with her mother to Los Angeles.
Twenty-three years have passed. Amber is alive, happily married to Michael, with a son, and living in New York City under her new name. Jade, still living in California, has been cavalierly committing crimes. After a robbery attempt on a woman in Beverly Hills ends in her death, Jade flees to New York. Amber, quickly learning that her sister is nearby and a bigger threat than ever, goes on the offensive to stop Jade before she can decimate the lives of everyone Amber holds dear. But uncertainty, altered paths, and unexpected revelations can change everything.
You can buy What the Years Remember here:
All fourteen of my book are available in Kindle and paperback editions on Amazon.
Additionally, all are free to read in Kindle Unlimited.
