Reboot on Writing

I missed my last month's blogging slot because I was in the Galapagos--on a life-changing trip with animals that show no fear, in an environment that looked like Mars to me (not just exotic, but so different that I really did feel transported). Would you believe green cactus trees growing on red rock? Sea lions who take over your towels and roll around? And nesting birds who don't budge when you come close...

AND I finally met the blue-footed booby, who is an expert dive-bomber fisher and poser for pictures.

I came home exhausted, a little sore from all the hiking on uneven sources up and down volcanoes, and totally exhilarated. This is what travel is supposed to do for you: yank you out of your routines and push reboot--on everything.

Home again to confront the reality of Five Star/ Cengage closing its mystery imprint. I had a manuscript ready to go and didn't want to send it to a publisher who would sit on it another six months and then turn it down. So I queried Wings, who has two of my other books. In business since 2001, Wings has a great staff, 3 excellent cover artists, and a steady track record in multiple genres. Best of all, they have recently made the cut as an MWA Approved Publisher. Wings is accepting submissions in all genres. They produce both ebooks and trade paperbacks.

I was delighted when they accepted Catacomb (coming on April 1). Set in my favorite foreign country, Italy, it's about a conservator who teams up with the Italian police to search for a lost trove of Nazi-looted art under the city of Rome. 

I've been dithering about what to write next, but the Galapagos trip helped me solidify my ideas. The next novel will be set in my home state of Illinois, in a museum with all kinds of problems...