I’ve finally got to the end of my new mystery novel, Death on the Danube, and I found out ‘whodunnit’ and why. Bella Sarver and her new husband, Art Halperin, meet a bunch of interesting people, including at least one with murder in mind. It was a lot of fun to discover who these people are and what makes them tick. As the writer, I set them in motion, but then they take on a life of their own and who knows where that’s going to lead?

The story takes place on a cruise along the Rhine-Main-Danube Rivers, with many stops on the way from Amsterdam to Bucharest. I enjoyed researching the historical backgrounds of my settings and the artists who lived and worked in them. (How did anyone ever write a book before the Internet?) But now comes the hard work of starting at the beginning and revising the entire novel so that it really comes alive.

I mentioned this to a friend the other day and she asked me about the tediousness of the task of revision. Her question took me by surprise, because I don’t think writing is the least bit tedious. Now that I have all my characters in place, I look forward to the chance to flesh them out so they can become living, breathing people. It’s all part of the fun of writing. It’s an adventure for myself as well as for my characters.

I’m hoping to get the final draft in shape by the Fall. Wish me luck!