Thank God for 3M

Sometimes a writer skips along in his happy pants, lah-de-dah-de-dah, writing thousands and thousands of words, when all of a sudden splat. The plot tangles, because somewhere along the way, the synopsis was forgotten and the story went off-roading. And that's exactly where I currently find myself . . . in a plot ditch.

Not to worry, though. God sent me two blessings: Erica Vetsch and sticky notes.

Erica is the author of gobs of western romances. How is she so prolific? Unlike me, she's a methodical plotter. She takes a big ol' piece of cardboard and arranges sticky notes on them with all her ideas for scenes. Then she organizes them and voila. Instant novel.

So I decided to give that technique a whirl today and here's what I came up with . . . a wall with the last half of my novel mostly figured out. I've still got a few spots to fill, but so far it worked out pretty slick. I must admit it made my brain hurt to come up with that many scenes in a row. Usually I only plan out two or three at a time. Stay tuned. I'll let you know if it works.

Oh yeah, here's what I'm working on . . .

Moore's Maiden
Setting: Dover, England, 1807
Officer ALEXANDER MOORE goes undercover as a rogue gambler to expose a traitorous plot against the king—and a master he is with his disguise, for JOHANNA LANGLEY believes him to be quite the cad. But when Johanna is swept up in the intrigue, Alex must choose between his mission and reputation as a crack lawman, or the woman he’s come to love.