by Chris Patchell
Pets for Vets was created to improve the lives of both Veterans and animals by bringing them together in a thoughtful, caring way. Their goal is to give back to the brave servicemen and women who have given everything to our country, while finding homes for deserving shelter pets. As an author, I’m honored to be part of an effort to support this wonderful cause. A full 50 percent of the royalties for every Love Under Fire collection sold will go to this deserving organization.
Whidbey Island is quite simply one of my favorite places in the Pacific Northwest.
When the sun is shining, it’s breathtakingly beautiful, but when those Pacific storms blow, it’s a very different place.
I got the idea for Deception Bay one sunny September afternoon when my husband and I hopped the ferry on a day trip. The island is full of places with intriguing names—like Forgotten Lane, Useless Bay, and Mutiny Bay. It’s the kind of place that just screams mystery.
Changing a Classic Mystery to Romantic Suspense
On top of all of those gorgeous Pacific Northwest hallmarks (deep cedar forest, coastline with sweeping views of Puget Sound), Whidbey is home to half a dozen or so small towns.
Normally, my stories are set in the city (Seattle and Phoenix, to name a few), but I grew up in a small town. The kinds of characters you meet there are fun to write about, and if a few of the minor characters bear a faint resemblance to some of my hometown acquaintances, well—that just makes the book even more fun.
It started out as more of a classic mystery—the thing I wrote when I was between writing other things. But when another author friend approached me about the Love Under Fire project, I picked it back up and adapted the story to fit the romantic suspense genre.
Austin Martell, the author-protagonist of Deception Bay, is a blast to write. He’s smart, and funny, and flawed—all things I love in a good character. I think readers will love him too.
How a Word Limit Can Help You Simplify Plot
I encountered a few unique challenges while writing this book.
First, there was a word count requirement. The stories in this boxed set were supposed to run between 30,000 to 40,000 words, but Austin’s story was longer than that.
I negotiated a 60,000 limit, but even that was hard to hit. Not that I’m pathologically long-winded, but I normally write novels that are 95,000 to 100,000 words long. To stay within my word-count, I had to simplify the plot, which was a good mental exercise for me.
The Danger of Forging Ahead Without Thinking About the Middle
The second challenge was the timeframe. I had already written a chunk of the book, so I figured that finishing it would be easy. HA!
I’m usually a plotter (not a pantser), but this time I forged ahead without fully thinking through the middle of the book. I mean, I knew how it was going to end, and it was only 60,000 words. How hard could it be to connect the dots?
When my editor started to point out flaws in the squishy middle, I regretted not properly thinking through the middle act. It took a fair bit of rewriting to get the story right. That’ll teach me for being a little too much like Austin—cocky.
You Have to Wait Until the Mood Strikes You to Write Humor
The third challenge was writing humor. People tell me I’m funny. (I do try not to dig too deeply into whether they mean funny haha or funny strange.) But my humor is situational.
It’s easy to inject humor into a conversation when you’re riffing with someone, but writing humor is VERY different thing. It takes multiple rewrites AND sometimes, you have to wait until the mood strikes you to layer humor into a scene.
Tell me the funniest joke you know. <Insert cricket sounds here.> Yeah. Exactly. 😊
I Always Underestimate the Effort Required to Edit a Book
“I’ll take Unrealistic Expectations for 500, Alex.”
Like I mentioned, I thought I would be able to finish this book fast, and the fact that it took me twice as along to finish as I expected weighed heavily on me.
Deception Bay is my fifth book. I should know by now that I ALWAYS underestimate the effort required to edit a book and the extra pressure of having a short deadline wore me down.
My husband has come to recognize the milestones in a book. The emotional meltdown milestone typically comes when I reach the two-thirds mark in the editing process. By that point I’m tired and feeling hopeless and think that I’m never going to finish the book.
When I hit that milestone this time around, my husband was ready. After I spewed out my emotional rant, he got this big grin on his face and said, “Good, you’re almost done.” I do adore that man.
Anyway, I pushed through the meltdown and finally reached the end and I’m glad that I did. I love this story, and I didn’t want to shortchange my characters or my readers by not working through the issues and finishing strong.
Getting the Ending Right Feels Like Sticking the Landing
The ending was the biggest triumph for me. I knew how I wanted it to end, but it wasn’t until the third draft that I nailed the final scene.
I felt like the gymnast releasing her grip on the parallel bars and sticking the landing just right.
Austin’s emotional arc ended on the right note, and I was able to go back through and strengthen his themes in a way that I think makes his character shine.
An Author Project that Supports Pets for Vets
One of the best things about my journey as an author is the people I have met along the way. My second book, In the Dark, was a Kindle Scout winner.
I met Fiona Quinn through the Kindle Scout community of authors. Not only is Fiona a good writer, but she’s smart and pragmatic—two things I love in my business colleagues.
Fiona approached me about the Love Under Fire project, and because she tends to work with really great people, I decided to join the group. And let me tell you, I’m glad I did. The team of authors contributing to the boxed set are talented, knowledgeable, and wonderfully supportive. I’m learning a ton from working with them.
The boxed set is supporting a fantastic cause. We’ve partnered with a 503(c) organization called Pets for Vets. They pair shelter pets up with Veterans in need of support. I think this is a total win-win.
Our dog, Sasha, was a shelter pet, and I have seen firsthand the kind of anxiety trauma produces in animals. Sasha was a mom at a puppy mill. Once the owners were done breeding her, they dumped at a high-kill shelter. She’s been with us four years now, and although she has settled into our family, her anxiety is still palpable.
I’m happy to support an effort dedicated to find good homes for shelter pets.
Getting Into the “Flow” is My Favorite Part of the Writing Process
On a gorgeous summer evening many years ago, I was out fishing with my Dad. I hated fishing, but I loved being out on the lake in a boat—the soft air, the sway of the waves. I’d read while he fished, and it was a total Zen experience.
When I’m smack in the middle of the creative flow, of writing feels like that—you lose yourself, get caught up in the characters and the story. As the words pour out of you, you find yourself in a happy and relaxed state.
This happens most often for me when I’m writing a first draft, when I’m not picking holes in the story, and I’m heads-down just enjoying the act of writing. It’s my favorite part of the process.
Shorter Projects Help a Writer Hone Her Craft
Shorter works are an effective way to hone your craft. Having a word count limit forces you to be economical with your choices—to choose the right words and write only the parts of the story that matter. It’s excellent training from a craft perspective.
I would suggest learning as much as you can about the other people in the collection, and be clear about your goals going into the project. You want to work with people who elevate your writing.
I also spent time weighing the opportunity cost. When I chose to work on Deception Bay, I put another of my other projects on hold. In doing so, I considered what taking part in this collection could do for me, and decided it was worth the effort.
Participating in a collection is a great way to extend your audience and build your network of authors, which is always a smart thing, because you never know what opportunities might come your way.
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Chris Patchell is the bestselling author of In the Dark and the Indie Reader Discovery Award winning novel Deadly Lies. Having recently left her long-time career in tech to pursue her passion for writing full-time, Chris pens gritty suspense novels set in the Pacific Northwest, where she lives with her family and two neurotic dogs.
For more information on Chris and her work, please see her website, or connect with her on Facebook, BookBub, and Twitter.
Deception Bay: She’s armed. He’s dangerous. Together, can they stop a killer from tearing a small island community apart?
When wise-cracking cozy mystery author, Austin Martell, left his hometown on Whidbey Island for the bright lights of New York, he vowed he would never go back. But some promises are impossible to keep, and when Austin discovers that his mother has suffered a serious accident, he has no choice but to return. Austin soon learns that her accident may be no accident at all, and secrets that were laid to rest after his brother’s tragic death off the coast of Deception Bay, have now begun to surface.
Austin finds himself in the center of a real-life murder mystery, when Police Chief Ellie Sharpe uncovers a curious connection between the author and the death of a local businessman. Born and raised on Whidbey and trained as a New York cop, Ellie is smart, and tough, and determined to solve the mystery behind the killing before more people die. Sparks fly as the two pair up to figure out who is responsible for the murder. The closer they come to discovering truth, the more desperate someone is to keep the sins of the past from coming to light.
Someone close to Austin harbors a deadly truth. Can Ellie unmask a killer before Austin becomes one more secret buried beneath the waves of Deception Bay?
Available at Amazon in the Love Under Fire collection.