A Mystery Writer's Notes From Tahoe:
Where the water is pure, the air is cool, and the bad guys all get caught...
The Library of Congress is the closest thing we have to a National library. Its location is off the east end of the national mall. It serves congress, but that is only part of its job. It is often considered the world's largest library.
Among a thousand duties, the library of congress issues cataloging numbers to books it deems sufficiently significant. I'm lucky in that it considers my books in that category.
The building and its rooms are spectacular. What a wonderful monument to books!
I'm excited to announce the next Owen McKenna (#19). It's called TAHOE JADE, and it will be published August 1st.
Here's the description:
A Letter From Abe Lincoln
In the fall of 1861, President Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter to the new governor of California, Leland Stanford. Lincoln sent the letter by Pony Express, which went through Tahoe. The letter from Lincoln was intercepted, and it never reached Stanford.
An Assault, A Fire, A Kidnapping
160 years later, Firefighter Jade Jaso was assaulted in Sacramento. The next day she nearly died in a warehouse fire. A short time later, her rancher father was killed in a fall at Lake Tahoe. Then Jade disappeared.
A Coded Message
When Detective Owen McKenna is brought on the case, he finds Lincoln’s letter hidden in the personal effects of Jade Jaso’s father, who was a collector of historical memorabilia. The letter contains a coded message. McKenna learns that the message refers to a treasure Stanford had mentioned to Lincoln. Unfortunately, Jade’s father made the deadly mistake of talking about the letter. The information came to a brute of a man who would kill and torture anyone who got in the way of finding that treasure, including Jade and her father, as well as Owen McKenna and McKenna’s girlfriend Street Casey...
TAHOE JADE should be in bookstores come August.
If you prefer ebooks, Amazon just put up a Kindle preorder page, which you can visit to see the cover:
For me, February through April is editing season. My new book is off at my 4th editor. In case you don't know, for most writers, editing and the subsequent rewrites are the most important part turning a rough draft into a competent novel.
Many writers think they can do the editing themselves. Most regret that impulse, for it leads to endless embarrassment in addition to nasty comments in reviews and the resulting poor sales. The reason you can't edit your own work is that you only see what you think you wrote. Whereas an editor sees what you actually wrote.
Because my new book has already been edited multiple times, and because I've rewritten the book after each previous edit, I sometimes suffer the delusion that I've sent my 4th editor a book with very few problems. Ha! It is a joke among us, me and the editors. One small reason is that different editors catch different problems. One big reason is that, when I rewrite to fix past mistakes, I create numerous new mistakes. It never ends.
When I rewrite my final time, I'll send it off into the publication pipeline. And when the finished, printed book comes out, it will, alas, have more mistakes. But, hopefully, they will be few.
I've said before that done is better than perfect. Meaning that you can continue to fix a book forever. If you don't finally decide it's done, you will never have a published book.
Winston Churchill's comment on the subject was (in so many words), "Your book begins as dream, morphs to an infatuation, and possibly moves into the category of mistress. But eventually, it becomes a tyrant. When that happens, you have to open the door and fling it out into the storm."
Good advice. Done is better than perfect. But don't be "done" with it until it's had multiple edits and rewrites.
Are you a hiker? Are you coming to the South Shore? If you want a place to go for a nice long walk that isn't buried in snow and has gorgeous views, come to the Tallac Historic Site. There are very few tourists this time of year, and the views across the lake are grand.
How to get there?
At the "Y" intersection where Emerald Bay Road turns north from Lake Tahoe Blvd., drive northwest out Emerald Bay Road. About three miles out, look for signs for Camp Richardson. There's a General Store, a classic old hotel, lots of cabins, etc.
When you go past the General Store on the right, continue a quarter mile or so and watch for the sign to Valhalla, again on the right.
Just after the turnoff (which is closed) to Valhalla, there is a gravel parking lot on the right where you can park. (There are also many other places where you can simply pull off the highway and park.)
From wherever you park, you will find numerous trails and paths and roads that head north to the shore of Lake Tahoe. When you get to the lake (about a quarter mile) head west along the shore. Take your time exploring. You will find the Heller Estate: https://valhallatahoe.com/valhalla-grand-hall/ , the Pope Estate, the Baldwin Cabin, multiple beaches etc.
Enjoy the old-growth Ponderosa Pines at Valhalla, monster trees that are 7 feet in diameter. Check out the spectacular view of Mt. Rose and the surrounding mountains, 30 miles north. And of course, there is nearby Mt. Tallac, the tallest mountain that sits directly on Lake Tahoe.
You will find miles of snow-free trails and beaches worth exploring. This time of year, you can enjoy these places like locals, unencumbered by the hordes of tourists that will descend come July.
