Planning Details For Footprints in the Sand

The galleys for Book Promo 201: Harness the Power of the Internet with Web 2.0 and Social Media Marketing are coming along very nice and I have the updated galleys to work on today. Love when the book gets this close to be complete and ready to go to the printer :)

But, I wanted to post an update about Footprints....

Over the weekend I had a little time to start getting some of my plot ideas on paper. So many great ideas floating around in my mind, but I've started writing them on index cards and that will give me a chance to organize all these ideas. Its also amazing to me how many additional ideas come to me as I'm arranging my thoughts.

I wrote one book with no plan and learned a HUGE lesson. While I love spontaneity in my writing - having only a vague idea wastes a lot of time. My first novel was started that way and I ended up tossing out over 50,000 words (200 pages) of content because I started the story in the "wrong" place. With the schedule I have and with business I don't have time to waste like that. So, I plan the basic things that I definitely want to include and especially with a mystery to keep the story on track.

BUT that does NOT mean that my characters aren't "allowed" to take control of the story and that does NOT mean that I don't change course if needed. That is all a big part of the fun of writing :) My first book took over a year to write - almost every book after that took less than half that time and my business books were each written in about 3 months. For a couple of years, I was a full time freelance writer and when the bills need to be paid - there isn't a year to play with a book idea :)

So, once the galleys are finished, I look forward to finding time to keep brainstorming the story. Hopefully I can also find time to head to the Outer Banks to do some research about the Ash Wednesday Storm which is the backdrop for this kidnapping mystery........

Nikki

Working on Book Promo 201 Galleys - Getting Back to Footprints in the Sand

I haven't had a chance to work on Footprints in the Sand lately, but I'm hoping to get a chance to work on it some this weekend. Last weekend I was at the Virginia Festival of the Book and the weekend before that -- we were working on the virtual tour for Maureen G Mulvaney's Amazon campaign for her new best seller -- The Women's Millionaire Club. Several weeks before that - I was working on other projects - but Footprints needs my attention and I really want to do some story brainstorming.

So, I called a local psychologist to see if we can talk about one of the characters. I work hard to maintain authenticity in characters, setting etc so I need to talk with a professional about some ideas I have for this character. Hopefully she can point me in the right direction. More updates soon -- I hope. I'll also let you know when Book Promo 201: Harness the Power of the Internet with Web 2.0 and Social Media Marketing is available :)

Nikki

Additional Character and the Book Dedication

I'm not revealing any huge secrets, but I planned to base a character in Footprints in the Sand on someone who has always been very important to me, but I needed someone's approval to do this. I got that approval a few days ago - so JD will be in the book. He's going to be a great friend to Nathan (the hero) and I think he will play an important part in helping Nathan solve the mystery of the kidnapping. The character will be his own "person", but there will be parts of his personality and behavior that will be familiar to people who knew the person he is based on.

I've also decided who to dedicate the book to, but now I will have to craft a great written dedication. Thankfully, I have all kind of time to figure that out :)

I also found some awesome resources and tips for parents to help them prevent kidnappings - and I'm planning to include those in the back of the book along with internet links for much more information.

Several other projects are taking up my writing time right now, but ideas for this book are simmering :) I've also got post it notes with ideas all over the covers of a couple of notebooks.

I read How to Write a Damn Good Mystery and all kinds of interesting story ideas cme to me while I was reading, so I jotted the notes down and stuck them to the front of the book. It looks really funny, but there is only one idea that I might not use :)

Time to get back to work for a client - hoping to share more soon :)

Nikki Leigh

Kidnapping Information Research

In between working, I've been on a search for kidnapping investigation information. At an author event in October I met a local author who is retired from the FBI, so I emailed him and he sent me a great list of the things that need to be done when a kidnapping is reported. I printed that out and will definitely use it while I'm plotting the story.

Tonight I got an idea about a keyword combination for Google and it got me into a section of the www.missingkids.org website that I hadn't found before. There is a wealth of info on their site and especially if you click on the "resource" links. I found this PDF which is a training manual for police officers which should be helpful and they have a couple of checklists. This is the link -
http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/ResourceServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=643 and click on Missing and Abducted Children (English)

I also located some tips for parents etc that I'll include in a special section in the back of the book. In any of my mysteries, I want to find a way to share information I find that can be helpful to readers. This should be some great information for parents and others :) I work hard to have authenticity in my novels, but this will go a step beyond what my readers are used to.

I'm also reading "How to Write a Damn Good Mystery" and making all kinds of notes. You should see the front of the book, I keep adding post it notes with story ideas that pop into my head while I'm reading :)

Nikki Leigh

Footprints in the Sand - Villain is Taking Shape

With Footprints in the Sand, the main characters are fleshed out from Lilah and the Locket - so I need to focus on the area of the Outer Banks where most of the action will take place. I also wanted to get my head around the villain and figuring out the "who", "what", "when", "why" and "how" of the crime.

I like this clipart - so I used it, but I'm not ready to reveal whether the villain is a man or a woman. Actually, you won't know that answer until you read the book :)

I got all that under control yesterday and even determined where the crime will take place along the Outer Banks. I had about 200 miles of coast to work with - but I wanted to use a section where I had details about the storm - so it will be near Whalebone Junction.


This is an aerial shot of the Outer Banks. That little narrow white strip on the picture in the land known as the Outer Banks. the green/blue to the right is the Atlantic Ocean and the green/brown area to the left of that strip is Pamlico Sound -- lots of water and so, you may understand why I'll write the story around a time when one of the worst storms of the century hit the area.

One of my goals is to have the reader feel that they were in the storm on Ash Wednesday 1962. This nor'easter hit the east coast and stalled for over 2 days. That time of the year is the spring solstice, so the tide is higher than normal, there was a new mooon - so the tide was even higher than normal --- add to that, three weather events that created a storm that sat on the coast for over 2 days and 5 tides cycles and you have high winds and a lot of water. Now, add to that a horrible crime the evening before this unexpected storm hits to coast - and I hope to reel you into this story.

Fan favorites, Kristie, Nathan and Lilah will be back. i got a number of comments from readers that they wanted to see Kristie and Nathan get together. In Footprints in the Sand, Nathan and Kristie are married and expecting their first child.

More soon...

Nikki Leigh

Sequel to Lilah and the Locket

For a year and a half, I've been thinking about a sequel to Lilah and the Locket. For people who are familiar with the book - the three main characters, a man, a woman and a dog - are all based on real people and a dog :) So, to write a sequel, I needed their approval to include them in a story. February 2008, Kristie and Nathan (the real Kristie and Nathan) became the proud parents of Walker.

A couple of months before Walker was born, I was speaking with Kristie on the phone - her parents were in town and wanted to get copies of Lilah and the Locket from me. During the call Nathan mentioned in the background, that we need a book that includes Walker. That was the opening I needed - so I emailed a release to Kristie and in the back of my mind I was thinking about possibilities for the book.

But, first I had to finish a book I started in November 2007. That book - Book Promo 201: Learn to Promote on the Internet and With Web 2.0 - is finished and in the hands of my publisher. Now, I can start working on the next Lilah book - the tentative title is Footprints in the Sand and take place around the time of the Ash Wednesday Storm on the Outer Banks.



Footprints in the Sand will be a crime novel set on the Outer Banks and Kristie will be pregnant. I'm not ready to divulge any more details at the moment, but to get a very real sense of the storm that will be in this book - I highly recommend The Ash Wednesday Storm by David Stick.

This picture is in the specific area where I plan to focus a good amount of the book - you will learn more about that later :)

These pictures are from the book - which shows pictures during the storm and 25 years later. The pictures that were taken in the same locations 25 years later show how much the area changed and in some cases - how little has changed. These pictures are also featured on this website - http://www.gresham-photography.com/book.html

Lilah and the Locket

Lilah and the Locket (Cape Hatteras Series - 1954)

Book is now available. Click to purchase.

The first morning of Kristie’s vacation she jogs along the beach with her German shepherd, Lilah. At the base of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, Lilah finds a human bone below the sand dune. Kristie’s plans for a quiet week are forgotten as she joins in the investigation. Ocean breezes blow across the Outer Banks of North Carolina and Kristie uncovers a personal connection to the murder victim and her locket.

She meets a handsome government worker named Nathan who is working to complete the National Seashore project in 1954. Do his co-workers know something about the crime? Will Kristie and the Deputy find the guilty party? Join Kristie on the rugged shores of Hatteras in the search for a murderer.

Description	ISBN #	Price	Availability Date
E-Book Download	1-59431-475-6	$4.50	Available NOW
Trade Paperback	978-1-59431-452-5	$16.95	Available NOW