LEAVE ME A NOTE

LEAVE ME A NOTE is a young adult, contemporary fiction, 50,000-word ghost story about emotionally-gutted sixteen-year-old Smudge who feels responsible for her sister’s disappearance, but the only cold-case clues are piano notes Smudge must untangle to find her sister’s killer.

As of January 2024, I am in the midst of one of my favorite parts of the writing process…discovering the story. Scraps of ideas are stuffed into my writer’s notebook as the snippets of this story unravel in my mind at the strangest of moments. Often those ideas are sent to me via text from my two daughters, because so often the best ideas come by listening to their conversations and learning of their experiences. I never thought I’d write a ghost story, but this one must be written. I honestly can’t wait to see where this story takes me and my readers. I thought I would finish  You Never Know the Last Time; however, when I asked my SCBWI writing group, with whom I’ve been sharing this writing journey since 2012, which idea they thought I should go with for my next book, they chose this idea. I knew they would.

For Summer 2024, I plan to write the discovery draft. In the meantime, I continue to outline, collect clues, unscramble words created from A-G (notes played on the piano), discover inspiration, and find Smudge’s story. Beginning Fall 2024 and taking steps forward for as long as it takes, I will continue my absolute favorite part about the writing process: revising, seeking feedback, revising, sharing, revising, rereading, revising, seeking more feedback, revising…and so the journey continues upon the music notes of my writer’s heart.