Why My Fourth Novel is Like the First Pancake

Hi readers,
So, I started writing my trilogy and it turned into a fifth romance/suspense/thriller novel based on a small desert town thrown into transition when the patriarch dies and it is revealed he has given it away to a stranger. Fun, huh? Yes, there will be romance. Yes, there will be suspense. Yes, there will be moments so dramatic you won’t be able to put it down!

Now, onto why my fourth novel is like a pancake. (You can tell I am stuck in a crucial part of the fifth novel because I have to write, but I am still trying to figure out at what point the poignant moment is revealed).

When I get to a point when I have to wait for the advice of my characters otherwise the plot seems forced, that’s when I start busying myself with other projects like baking. So I got this new gluten-free all-purpose flour WITH NO PANCAKE RECIPE ON THE BACK and set out to experiment.

Invariably the first pancake is a mess.

So is my fourth novel.

Like any good idea, I had the beginning, middle and end. This would have been a modern retelling of the beauty and the beast story. A woman gets a call from a mysterious stranger in the middle of the night threatening he is going to call the police on her brother who has just broken into his house. In despair, the woman rushes out to save her brother and is confronted by a very angry (but sexy) recluse and when they clash, she pulls the phone cord from the wall and pleads for her brother’s release so that he can finish law school.

Then there’s the end. In a lover’s quarrel over a mystery that was always vague, the woman is prepared to leave but is given the book that will solve all the mysteries. She is not to go to the main mansion but follows the elderly woman who gave her the book so that the mystery will be solved. The man sees her and is compelled to follow because it reminds him of that night so many years ago (I know, crap, right?). Following the woman into the mansion, he sees her standing on the ballroom floor and is compelled to dance because the room has been set up to look exactly like that night from long ago (when something mysterious screwed up his life). Taking her in his arms, the spell is broken as they dance. The woman pulls away and throws the book at his feet. She no longer has to put up with his mommy-daddy-screwed-me-up issues.

Then the epilogue. Then … well I might salvage that for another novel because it’s really sweet.

So, that is why you’ll never see my fourth novel. I don’t want to present anything half-baked (Oh, that’s funny). I really try my best to present my best work (please forgive any typos or mistakes in my novels, they do get proofed) and each typo or mistake is a dagger to my perfectionist self-esteem.

So, that is why my fourth novel is like that first, ruined pancake. The others taste great, at least to me.