My Amish Blog - Keeping Those Pages Turning-

#1-   As I've said and learned over and over again, it's wonderful to write about our interests and what pertains to the genre we want to be published in. I am currently writing Amish novels, so all things Amish draw my attention...food, clothing, good and bad behaviors of certain groups, the PA Dutch language they use among themselves, the latest TV shows about Amish, and of course, Amish novels. .
   So, check out the latest post on my Amish blog:  http://amishdiscoveries.blogspot.com/
   Thanks for looking.

#2-   Currently, I am writing my second Amish novel. This gives me the enthusiasm and hope that the first novel will be published. But, I realize I am in quite a competitive genre and there are so many wonderful authors writing Amish these days.
        So, I've added a twist of mystery and suspense to mine. (Not such a new concept, but perhaps less predictable...I hope.) My goal is, a story with very few, if any, 'dead' spots.    
     Most writers save the 'who done it' until the end. I still have about 41,000 words to go. So, I am going to give double trouble to the story. One 'who done it' gets solved at this midway point, and the other, a big surprise, will come at the end.
     I want to do this, because when I am dragging out a story just for the sake of 'word count' then it will be as boring to the reader, just as it was for me, the writer, to drag it out.
     I think it's best to let the story carry us along, rather than the number of words completed and the number to be reached. Too much description and idle small talk between characters are parts I tend to skip over when I'm reading a novel. (Yep, I admit it.)  And I don't want readers to do that with my stories.
     So...rather than become frustrated about how I will keep those pages turning with the 'aha! moment' at the end - I'll have two such moments instead of one.
     There's no rules on how many surprises an author can tuck into a story.  After all, many times life throws us one surprise after the other...some good, and some not too welcomed. I've heard people say about their own circumstances: "I could write a book about all this" Why not?