In the week since my return, it’s been fairly jammed as I dealt with the most critical things first. Everything was productive and it was worth the time spent. In the 2.5 things I was able to accomplish for myself while gone, I completed the post-beta read changes to Shades of Remorse and my primary editor for scuba-involved books is available. I sent her the manuscript yesterday and she’ll be able to start next week. Hooray! My intent is for the book to be out the end of October/first part of November.

Sequencing in this one was tricky as was the use of a triple point of view (POV). As I mentioned in some previous posts, the long gap since my last book was I have never tackled a triple POV. There are different ways to do so and I don’t care for a couple of those techniques. It took a while for me to decide and quite frankly, it is complicated. Sequencing was difficult as well and in fact, even after the beta-read, something still felt “off”. I figured out it was the sequencing of four chapters toward the end. I had to move those around just a bit for the right flow. I’ll see if the editor responds in the same way.

Unlike most of my books, there is no view point from the “bad guy/woman” and so the reader doesn’t have the same insight as I’ve provided in the past. There are numerous linkages to “pick up on” as Detective Bev Henderson is faced with her first cold case as the story opens with finding a skeleton in the water. After the dead man is identified, there is more than one viable motive, but with forty years elapsed, there is no supporting forensics to help. Much is set against the backdrop of an old motel converted into apartments where four older women reside; one of whom is the widow. Added to the mix is the sudden appearance of the owner’s niece whom she had never met due to the estrangement of the two sisters.

You can see why this novel is especially complex.