The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author - Chapter 4

The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author

Chapter 4

I am ready to write!
As I began conceptualizing the main story line I wanted to present, I remembered again: “write what you know about”.
I know that many authors of crime and mystery novels have had a background in law enforcement or were attorneys or in other related fields. They have the first hand, inside information as to how the legal justice system works.
Me, not so much.
If I try to write a true-crime mystery, sophisticated readers would see through me in the first few paragraphs.
My slant on crime solving will be from Walt’s perspective as a retired realtor who is bored out of his mind, witnesses a mugging, and decides at the ripe old age of 65, that he wants to be a cop and give Lady Justice a hand.
All he knows about crime fighting is what he’s seen on TV: Dragnet, and Boston Blackie. I can do that!
My expertise is real estate. I have been doing it for 31 years and as Broker/Manager of a large RE/MAX office, I have the first hand, inside information as to how a mystery could work in the real estate world.
Along the way, I will dig into my huge bag of weird , funny stuff that has happened to me on my life’s journey and let Walt and his friends share the experiences with the reader.
A book has to have a title, doesn’t it? I sat for what seemed like hours trying to come up with the perfect title. I knew one theme of the book was seeking justice, so my first attempt at a title was “Justice For All”.
Fortunately, my wife, who is also my editor, reviewer and designer jumped on the internet and discovered that “Justice For All” was a play, a reform organization, and worst of all, the title of an album by the acid rock group, Metallica. There were thousands of internet pages for this title. I would be lost in the maze. Back to the drawing board.
Nothing came to mind, so I decided to set the title thing aside and wait for inspiration. I hoped that as the story developed, the perfect title would jump off the page.
Boy, did it ever!