Every new book is an adventure for me.

And like any adventure worth having, it is in turn scary and exhilarating.

My stories tend to brew in my mind for quite a while, like hurricanes forming out there in the Atlantic. They usually start with a tiny nagging idea. I then begin to write copious notes as new “what if?” ideas occur to me.

Finally, I gather up all those notes and start transferring them into STORYBOOK, the software program I use to organize and help me build my outline. Finally when everything is organized I begin to write a synopsis of the story, detailing the action in each chapter.

And that’s where I am today – ten pages into my detailed outline.

And again, magic happened.

While thinking about the story over the weekend I began to worry that it might take a little too long to get into the action. I started looking for a way to remedy this and when the answer came, it surprised and delighted me. And more importantly it opened up a entire new possibility for the story.

Not only did I have my solution to my pacing problem, but I had also discovered a way to keep you, hopefully, on the edge of your seats.

And that’s day one done… Only forty five more to go before the completion of the first draft.