Christa Reads and Writes: Guest Post: CHERYL HOLLON on Writing a Book

Today, it is my pleasure to have Cheryl Hollon as my guest answering the question...

What part of the book do you find most challenging – the beginning, the middle, or the end?

The trickiest part in writing a book has changed over the course of my debut year as a published author. When I started writing the Webb’s Glass Shop series, the ending was an absolute nightmare. I struggled with it like an Olympian wrestler. There were all those loose ends that needed resolution. All the red herrings had to be resolved. Finally there was the orchestration of the reveal. I felt like one of those lace makers juggling tiny threads on too many bobbins.

Now my nemesis is the middle. The middle muddle to be exact. I enjoy the opening scenes where the students arrive for the featured glass workshop closely followed by the finding of a body. As the investigation progresses, more suspects are added, more questions are raised and more motives are revealed. Then – this is where I really get bogged down – an investigation needs to continue to have successes and failures until the resolution. From the middle muddle, this seems a long, long, long way to get to the beginning of the end.

I finally devised a method for getting through the middle muddle with less angst and more interest. I divide the middle into three sections with an arc for each. That little trick gives me the feeling of tackling only a short section instead of a huge block that represents more than two thirds of the book.

This plan helps me approach the middle with more confidence and its definitely more fun for me to write. It is not a surprise that if it’s fun for me to write, it’s usually fun for the reader as well. And who doesn’t want to have fun.

About Shards of Murder:

When a glass-making competition turns deadly, glass shop owner Savannah Webb must search for a window into a criminal's mind…
As the new proprietor of Webb's Glass Shop, Savannah has been appointed to fill her late father's shoes as a judge for the Spinnaker Arts Festival, held in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. With her innovative glass works, the clear winner is Megan Loyola, a student of Savannah's former mentor.

But when Megan doesn't show up to accept her $25,000 award, rumors start flying. And when Savannah discovers the woman's dead body on festival grounds, the police immediately suspect her of murder. To keep from appearing before a judge herself, Savannah sorts through the broken pieces of glass scattered around the victim for clues as to who took this killer competition too far. . .

Meet the Author:
Cheryl Hollon writes full time after she left an engineering career designing and building military flight simulators in amazing countries such as England, Wales, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and India. Fulfilling the dream of a lifetime, she combines her love of writing with a passion for creating glass art. In the small glass studio behind the house, Cheryl and her husband George design, create, and produce fused glass, stained glass and painted glass artworks.

You can visit Cheryl and her books at

http://www.cherylhollon.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cheryl-Hollon-Writer/357992230995844

http://www.twitter.com/cherylhollon

Buy links:

Pane & Suffering AMAZON

Shards of Murder Barnes&Noble AMAZON