Paperback Writer

[Writers Plot]

Posted by Lorraine (L.L.) Bartlett

We were headed off for the Labor-Day weekend. At the last second, Frank decided we should deliver the wire I’d promised my Dad--not just leave it for him to find when he came over to feed the cats. That short trip delayed our departure by no more than three minutes. As we pulled out of Dad’s driveway, I saw a UPS truck pull up ours.

We stopped at the end of our yard and I hollered to old Brown Shorts, asking if he was making a delivery. “Yeah, four boxes.” I turned back to Frank, my resident cartographer. “Were you expecting any maps?” He looked confused. “No.”

Four boxes? Box = case.

Brown Shorts had opened the back of his truck.

I recognized the black diamond shapes on the boxes.

My author copies!!!

Brown Shorts was too busy yakking on his cell phone as I practically skipped up the driveway behind him. He dumped the boxes and probably never heard my squeals of “thank you, thank you!”

Somehow I unlocked the door, grabbed a box, and opened it with my keys. There they were: 48 beautiful mass market paperback copies of Murder On The Mind.

Whoa! I didn’t feel that kind of joy when I first saw the hardcover edition of the book. Maybe because I didn’t like the cover. Maybe it was the type, or the leading. For some reason, it just didn’t feel the same. I’d felt depressed when I first held the hardcover edition. Doranna said holding my first book in my hand would be the best feeling in the world and it wasn’t.

But holding this pulp-paper edition in my hands was different. It almost felt like a NEW book instead of just a book reborn. Finally I was--am--a paperback writer! (Can't you just hear Paul McCartney singing?!)

I must say that Harlequin (Worldwide Mystery is an imprint) did a marvelous job. It’s just so paperback-y-ish. And I love the cover blurb and the excerpt they chose, which was different--BETTER--than the ones on the Hardcover edition. I should know--I wrote the original cover blurb. (Just goes to prove Marketing Departments do earn their keep.)

I hopped back in the car for the hour ride, itching to open the book and read. I kept admiring my beautiful baby all the way to the cottage. And once we got in and unpacked, I sat down to reread my favorite scenes.

For 10 months I’d wondered what changes they would make. My editor had warned me it was likely the profanity would be edited out. (Excuse me, but I can’t control what my characters say. Sometimes I feel like I'm only the transcriber.) I wondered how they’d rewrite those sentences, especially the BIG scene where Jeff confronts the killer.

WOW--they didn’t change a word!

Then I reread the entire book, which I have not done since the copy edit back in early 2005. Jeff came alive for me once again.

I’m so looking forward to sharing this new edition of Murder On The Mind with a slew of new readers. It’ll be available October 1st on Harlequin’s website.

Don’t worry, I’ll remind you and give you a direct link. If you haven’t already read the book, I hope you’ll want to know and love Jeff as much as I do. (Check out an excerpt on my website.)