I Need a Name for My Next Victim So I have finally started breathing new energy into my writing career. Yes--I have been in a slump. I'll admit it. Life became insanely stressful and busy over this past year and instead of my usual 3 books a year, I have not written a manuscript for a year. Gulp--I said it--well sort of (I wrote it). Lucky for me, I did have some new books released into the world, (Patron and Happy Hour) but now it's time to get back to business.

My problem as a writer has always been that I have a bazillion ideas running through my head at any given time, and I want to write them ALL right at that moment. That becomes overwhelming because let's face it, it's an impossible task. Then, I lose my focus in the haze of overwhelm and I top it off with outside stress from just plain old life, and then all I want to do is go spend time with my horses because 1. they don't talk back., 2. they are very forgiving souls, 3. they don't judge. In other words, they are perfect for stress relief.

However, I simply can't spend all day, everyday with my four legged children. Well, I can't do that anyway because I have my day job to attend to, which is also one of the reasons I have put writing on the back burner. But, honestly I am an unhappy individual when not writing. Knowing that has meant that it is time to get back to work and write another book. I am recommitting myself as a writer to the next book, and here are the first two lines (a little sneak preview):

You know how happy endings are reserved for fairy tales and some unscrupulous massage parlors? Yeah well, Nikki Sands was starting to think this old adage might actually be true.

Now, I don't have the name of my murder victim just yet, so I thought I'd run a little contest: "I need a name contest." Here is what I can tell you about the victim: She's a nun. She's Italian. She's about 60 years old. If you have a name you'd like me to consider, post it here in the comment section. If I pick the name you come up with, I will obviously use that name for the victim in the book, credit you for it, and send you a copy of A Toast to Murder.

I figure it'll take me about a week to get to the murder scene, so I guess what that means is the contest closes a week from today. (next Weds).

Thanks and have a great day!

Cheers,
Michele