More on the details when it’s done (I’m superstitious about talking too much about works in progress). Today’s post is about process and this one is coming together differently than any of my other mystery novels.

Every book is different, of course. I’ve written novels in one draft, one shot, no revision at all (DAMAGED GOODS). I’ve written novels where I’ve changed villains in the rewrite (DEADLINE). I’ve written novels where a third of the original ms. has been left on the cutting room floor (BORDERLINE).

But I’ve never done one like this one, which is being written in layers. I’ve been doing some video work in my magazine job, some voice over, script writing. I’ve also been watching the video editor work his magic, weaving sound and video, splicing and dicing. It’s fascinating and fun.

I’ve also been reading about painters and their process, layering on of paint, a final addition of light and color bringing the work to life.

And maybe some of that rubbed off because SAMARITAN is being written in a long burst of dialogue. Very little expository anything. Always moving. The dialogue and action driving the book along.

That’s layer one. Then comes blog posts and text messages (key to this one). Then some more Irish-izing of the dialogue (lots of Irish friends ready to help out there. Hello, Dublin northsiders!). Then some fleshing out of the landscape.

And voila. The complete story, hopefully seamless and smooth.

Will I write the next one like this? Apply this process to the next Jack McMorrow or Brandon Blake? Probably not. But we aren’t stamping out cookies here folks. And has this one been fun? It’s been grand.

Happy 2013. The world didn’t end, you’re still reading, and I’m still writing. In fact, I’m in the study right now, 16,000 words into a new stand-alone mystery novel. More on that soon. I’m also looking forward to publication of ONCE BURNED, the new McMorrow. More on that soon, too. Sorry to be so vague but there’s lots happening behind the scenes. Stay tuned.

The view from the study window, aka what I see when I'm procrastinating!

In the meantime, if you want to chat face to face, I’ll be at the Scarborough (Maine) Public Library Sunday, Jan. 13 at 2 p.m. This is part of the Friends of the Scarborough Library Literature Series called “Murders They Wrote. I’ll be catching people up on my doings, writings, Jack McMorrow and Brandon Blake, and whatever else comes up in the conversation. Hope to see you there.

October Morning on the Lake

HThanks for stopping by. And if you’re wondering where I’ve been, I can tell you I’ve been painting the house. This involves Hey all:

Thanks for stopping by. What have you been up to? In addition to writing, I’ve been spending much of my time standing atop very tall ladders. So you may say, why don’t you hire somebody to do that? What if you fall and break your wrists and can’t write? Well, that would be a bad day. For me, especially. But sometimes a crime novelist has to live on the edge. Right now that adrenalin rush is coming from standing near the top of a 40-foot extension ladder. And hoping a bat doesn’t explode out from behind that shutter.

Anyway, I’m working on a few things. Both continuing series and something entirely new. More news on that to come shortly. I’ll post it here and on my Facebook page, which I hope you’ll visit and “like.” Also, a couple of appearances this fall (ah, I can’t say no). I was unable to make the Bangor Book Festival. Sorry about that. I will be at Rockport Public Library, Nov. 14, 6:30 p.m. I hope to see you there.

I’ll leave you with these

images from autumn in Maine. Today I saw sumac waving from the roadsides like red-orange cheerleaders;  a garter snake that tried to cross a road and didn’t make it; a painted turtle that did; two turkey vultures feeding on a large but unidentifiable carcass  in a field.

Saturday Aug. 14, it’s off to the Boothbay Book Fest. Forty authors, including moi. A flash mob of Maine authors of all sorts and sizes.  Don’t miss it. If you do, hope to catch you later on. The list of my stops for the summer is below, or click on the “events” tab.

A quick note on a summer day in Maine that can’t make up its mind: rain or sun, blue sky or dark gray clouds. I go outside, come back in, go outside, come back in. I’m in now and it’s showering so I thought I’d be in touch with you all.

Three things:

One, I’m at work on a new McMorrow, in the research stage but not long from starting to write. I’m excited about the premise. I can’t tell you because that will jinx it. Not that I’m supersititious.

Two, I’ve got a few appearances coming up. Next is the Auburn (Maine) Public Library, Monday July 2  at 6 p.m. Come join in the conversation.

Three, in my travels people have said they’ve been having trouble finding some of the early McMorrow novels. Not to worry! Just drop me an e-mail at gerry@gerryboyle.com and we’ll fix you up. We have the books in hardcover. Let us know what you need and we’ll have them signed, sealed and in the mail. Don’t want you to miss any of Jack’s adventures, or Brandon Blake’s, either.

June 7, 6:30 p.m., South Portland Public Library.

July 2, 6 p.m., Auburn Public Library.

July 14, 12:30-3:30, Boothbay Harbor, Books in Boothbay.

July 17, 6 p.m., Rangeley Public Library.

July 25, 5:30 p.m.,Tenants Harbor Public Library.

Aug. 9, 5:30 p.m., Newport Cultural Center.

Aug. 23, 7 p.m., Orr’s Island Public Library, with Kate Flora.

Hope I see you along the way.

So Rick and I ate in Darby’s Restaurant, had a very pleasant conversation, and a stroll around downtown Belfast to see some of the locations McMorrow frequents. Rick read DAMAGED GOODS  that week and was kind enough to send me a note saying that he’d liked it very much. (Authors pretend not to need this sort of positive reinforcement but most of them are lying.)

But Rick’s first reaction was interesting. He said he could tell I was a birder because there are birds all through the book. And I suppose there are, though I’ve never sent McMorrow out with his binoculars and field guide. But my reporter protagonist is aware of his surroundings, natural and otherwise, and if you live in the country it’s very likely that you’re surrounded by birds. And if you know birds at all, you can’t help but notice what’s out there.

McMorrow and I share some qualities, I guess, and this is one. When I step outside in the early morning I look up at the sky, the woods, and listen. Often there are a dozen or more birds calling at once and I run through the list as I walk to the road to get the newspaper. Orioles, various warblers, sometimes an osprey, crows, chickadees, vireos, robins, bluejays, cardinals, thrushes, woodpeckers, sapsuckers. To some people it’s just a cacaphony, I suppose, a lot of chirping and tweeting. For me and McMorrow it’s much more than that.

So that’s the explanation for the bird thing. To me birds are as much of the landscape as the clouds in the sky.

One morning last week I woke up at 3 a.m. to a wonderful hooting sound. Outside, close to the house, a great horned owl was calling. Another answered. It was a territorial call, from what I’ve read and heard, some maybe there’s a nest nearby.

It was very cool. So don’t be surprised if, in an upcoming McMorrow novel, a great horned owl awakens Jack as well. Funny how that happens. Must be because Jack and I walk the same woods.

Winners will be announced in Portland May 31. Brandon Blake will see if he can get the night off at Portland P.D.