In the summer of 2020, I had a major medical problem.  This is not a complaint.  Everything came out okay – eventually.  I was in the hospital for a month.  This included three surgeries, ten days in ICU, and four days when I was “unresponsive.”

After the month in the hospital, I spent the better part of the next month in bed.

But after those two months, I was at least beginning to think about a “more normal” life. My brain was functioning.

Sort of.

Prior to entering the hospital, I had A Plot for Murder almost finished and was looking forward to a fall release.  With the book nearly finished, that was still a possibility. But a strange situation occurred.

We had planned to remodel the kitchen, and I began to draw up plans.  Of course these went through several iterations as we refined what we wanted, and what would fit into the overall space available. Part of this had to deal with retrieving some “lost space” where the builder had left small areas empty behind walls.  We got the blueprints and decided to utilize some of those little bits. When combined with the space currently in use, this allows us greater freedom in our design.

All of this went along easily.

But, when I sat at the computer to work on finishing the novel, nothing happened. I could put down words, sentences. But I was having trouble concluding the book.  My imagination was gone.  And the words I put down, now at a critical part of the book, were flat. There was no feeling in them, no imagination, no rhythm in the sentences.

This situation continued for over a month.  Good work on drawing plans for the kitchen. Uninspiring words for the novel.

And then one day, I wrote a paragraph I liked. Over the next week, the way to handle the ending began to come into view. Paragraphs began to fit together. The ending worked well.

Sometime later, I realized what was happening. My left brain had come back to life first. My right brain lagged behind. Strange. My hospitalization had nothing to do with the brain. No head injury.

But it certainly appeared as if the left brain woke up and started to work faster than the right brain.

Perhaps there is a message for me here.

jim

“From the first sentence, it captures your attention and carries you on an intriguing mystery-solving adventure.” Avid reader Sharon S.

“I’ve read so many mysteries/suspense stories that all sound alike. A Plot for Murder is very distinctively and enjoyably different.” R. Bruner.

Rod Granet, award-winning novelist and womanizer, is the main speaker at a writers conference. But after the opening session and in front of a crowd, Maggie DeLuca, Father Frank’s sister, accuses Granet of stealing her story and says he will pay.

That night, Granet is killed.

The sheriff quickly zeros in on Maggie and she is hauled off in handcuffs. When Father Frank comes to her aid, the sheriff threatens him with jail if he interferes.

A Texas Ranger is assigned to the investigation. He sees Father Frank as a valuable asset. Even as the sheriff continues to harass Father Frank and interrogate Maggie, the Ranger pushes Father Frank to get more involved, telling him the sheriff considers Maggie his only  suspect. Father Frank is faced not only with his sister being the prime suspect in a murder case, but also threatening letters, a rifle shot through his car as he drives across a bridge, and the sheriff’s promise to put him in jail if he investigates the murder.

Can Father Frank stay out of jail and alive, and find the real

If you’d like to order a copy of A Plot for Murder: Murder at the Writers Conference, use this link which will offer you a choice of formats and retailers.    https:books2read.com/u/mYAW2P