Nancy G. West
Aggie Mundeen, with her wry take on life, sees humor in most situations. She’s an advice columnist and amateur sleuth in love with a commitment-averse San Antonio detective who doesn’t appreciate her inserting herself in his investigations. So their relationship is frequently contentious, often humorous and always dicey.
By book four, River City Dead, the new book in the Aggie Mundeen mystery series, these two have survived crime, calamity and confusion, but they realize they love each other and should attempt to reset their relationship in some idyllic place away from crime. They choose to rendezvous at a San Antonio River Walk hotel during Fiesta week. With Aggie involved, nothing goes as planned.
Thanks for contributing this post, Nancy! I enjoyed reading your opening pages, and I also enjoyed your comments on how you balance various elements as you draw readers into the world of your novel and the lives of your characters.
B.K., I’m delighted to be with you on your site. I was interested to learn our paths to serious writing were similar. Families come first, don’t they? But after probing the edges of writing, when the time is right, we take our finger out of the dam and let the writing seep through in a building flood.
I had thought about and re-worked these first two pages many times, but I had never written about them. Thank you for giving me the chance to do that.
Really love this series and nice to see Nancy here. Good to get some insight into the writer’s mind and setting up the story!
I really appreciate it, coming from you. You and B.K are so good at writing short stories. I have four in a drawer that are dismal. One of these days…
I’m glad you enjoy this blog, Eleanor! I learn a lot from hearing about other writers’ strategies for getting those crucial opening pages right. Remember that you’re welcome to post here again any time!
Very interesting to hear (or read) your thoughts on deciding how the opening for your book would go. It sounds like fun–murder with romance–just what I enjoy reading and writing. I’m sorry I hadn’t read any of your books yet but will now.
Thank you, June! I hope you enjoy Aggie and Sam. I love writing about them. Opposites definitely attract. They keep me guessing.