Whispers in the Dark

It's here! In all its glory (?)

The second (bad) novel I ever wrote, many years ago, has now been completely revised and condensed into a long novella. I reduced 60,000 words to 35,000.

What got cut? Oh, lordy, an embarrassing and completely useless subplot ~ no, two embarrassing and completely useless subplots; chapters of back story. 

I changed the point of view from third person to first. I changed the main character's name, which had a psychological benefit for me. I did not want to be writing the same story. There is nothing about the original that I want to remember other than the bones of the plot. 

The words that remained did not get changed much. They were good words. While I'd completely messed up the original novel, I had nice descriptive elements that deserved keeping.

In lieu of all that back story (yikes!) I sprinkled in just enough to explain why my MC is the way she is. As for the likability issue, she's nicer now. While I rather liked the witty banter, it apparently came across as too mean and snarky. (I guess you had to be there ~ inside my head ~ to get it.)

So, Radio Crazy is now Whispers in the Dark. 

The Blurb:

Sam wasn’t always Sam, and she wasn’t always hidden away in a tiny town, spinning records in the middle of the night. She’s been so careful, so anonymous. The police never found her.

But now Sam is being stalked. Nine years ago a crazed lunatic tried to murder her, until she killed him first. Then she ran. She was sure she’d killed him. She saw his body, bloody and bashed, right there on the floor.

It’s impossible that her would-be killer is still alive and hell-bent on revenge. Isn’t it? 

 

Whispers in the Dark is currently on pre-order, available March 18. Why March 18? No reason, other than I'm a chicken. Radio Crazy's rejection was devastating to me. I almost stopped writing, convinced I was a hopeless failure. 

I admit to being a bit concerned that people will think they're buying something they're not, based on the cover and description. Yes, there are suspense elements, but the book isn't all suspense. The main character has an actual life outside her moments of terror. Maybe one could label the book a "hybrid". Truly, the story is more about her reaction to the terror; thus, it's women's fiction ~ you know, the journey and all.

I promised you'd read it here first, so ta da! Here it is! 

And I want to thank me for seeing this through. I deserve something, a cup of coffee maybe, for sticking it out. And now maybe I can exorcise the ghosts of failures past.