Spring Ahead or Fall Behind

We're quickly approaching my favorite weekend of the year. The Sunday morning where clocks are adjusted back to give everyone an extra hour for one day. And people scoff and say time travel isn't possible.

The whole idea of springing ahead just to fall behind seems like a poor way to conserve energy, which was its original purpose. Theoretically, I can conceptualize what the government has been trying to do. Maximize the use of sunlight during daylight hours in order to get more work done. But save energy? The extended days just mean that corporations, businesses, and even families spend more energy in other venues.

So, what does this have to do with writing? Well, for some of us, November means NaNoWriMo. A time when we "spring ahead" with cramming as many words into our manuscript as possible while other aspects of our lives go to hell in an asbestos hand basket. I've done NaNoWriMo, even won (wrote 50K) one year. I think that it works very well for people who really need the poke in the rear and the carrot on the stick to get their manuscript written. For me...I'm a believer that the steady output of words onto paper is the way to get a book written. I wish everyone doing NaNoWriMo luck, but as for me, I'll be writing my 1K a day and looking forward to going back to what my Dad called "God's Time" on Sunday.

Back in 1859, when my most recent releaseOnce Upon a Midnight is set, there was no DST. Some houses had just installed gas lighting and indoor 'bathrooms' were a luxury. Life may have seemed simpler, but upon closer inspection, society still had the same issues as today. The rich and the poor scrambled to improve their conditions, serial killers preyed on victims, a seething cauldron of religious beliefs boiled up Catholicism along with voodoo, and people feared grave robbers and zombies.

In 1859 Baltimore, she never expected to encounter voodoo, zombies, or Edgar Allan Poe...

Patrick Shea may be driving a hack now, but he is also chasing the story of a lifetime in hopes of garnering a journalist position with a local newspaper. At the home of René Molyneaux, he catches sight of his quarry, a Haitian Voodoo Practitioner called King Louis, but also sees someone totally unexpected—his wife, Barbara, who disappeared two years ago. She’s working as Molyneaux’s parlor maid. The problem? He finally works up the courage to confront her for the sake of their two-year-old daughter, Emily, when Barbara disappears yet again. While looking for clues to her whereabouts, Patrick finds himself falling in love with her replacement, Mary Reynolds.

Mary Reynolds walks like a lady, talks like a book, and is as pretty and polished as any lady in 1849 Baltimore Society. And so she should, up until ten years ago she was the beloved daughter of a Baltimore mover and shaker. Then, upon her mother’s death, Mary was discovered to be illegitimate and her life crashed down around her. She lost everything: her mother, her home, and her status. Due to the kindness of her mother’s friends, she went into service; however, she’s never given up on her dream of regaining her place in society. When she least expects it, Fate steps in and reveals a clue to her true identity and her birth name, Lenore. With the help of Patrick and his landlady, Mrs. Pym, Lenore begins to rebuild her life. Among her many shocking encounters, her biggest discovery is the one she makes about herself.