Are You as Busy and Excited as Me?
Jan 18, 2025 by E. Joe Brown
Why did I mention this? We talked about book three (A Cowboy's Dilemma) and where I am on having the manuscript ready for Artemesia to begin their work preparing it to be published. I told him I had worked on the issues we identified the last time we met, and now I had several questions about improving the novel.
He smiled, “What do you mean?”
I shared with him that as I met with my writer's group (Corrales Writers Group), they mentioned how they would love to have more insight into several characters and some behind-the-scenes action that must be happening. I also wanted to continue developing Charlie and Susan, allowing them to mature and getting my readers to know them better.
He agreed that this all sounded great, but be careful because we only have a limited amount of time before he would need me to get the manuscript to them as my publisher so we can have it this summer. He gave me some advice on those questions and then asked, “What have you been able to do on books four and maybe five?” I said, "I have about 60,000 words completed on both, but how much of each will end up in the final manuscript is the question."
He said, "Let's discuss where the story is going and whether anything happening in [A Cowboy's] Dilemma will affect what you have planned for later."
Why am I sharing this, and why do you care? You deserve to know that my publisher and I are looking at at least one or two more books in the Kelly Can Series. We are in book three in 1919 and 1920, and I have already written Charlie and Susan in future manuscripts into 1921, 22, and maybe 23. I have outlined a story that could easily take them into the Depression era and beyond. As an author, I must continue to make the storyline interesting by adding depth and interest to the characters, creating conflicts they overcome, and, in my case, including some real-world historical events and people.
I sure hope you stay around because a lot will happen, and that's why my publisher and I are already discussing future books.
Happy Trails,
Joe