Monday Morning Blah

I seem to have caught a cold. It's near 80 outside in October! and I'm sick - life is so unfair. In the midst of my pouting-about-my-cold and feverish delusions, I realized a plot problem. Well, several, which is why I haven't written a darn thing in over a week. In 2 different stories, I have 2 separate problems. Neither of which I like or need, and only 1 of which is workable.

In the Austrian story it's a simple matter to comply with their antiquated (even for the 1870s) inheritance laws. I don't want to, and feel like flailing my arms in vain protest. But I will, because even though the story's got a touch of paranormal, some things you can't change. (Unless you go totally AU, and that's more work than the story requires or I need!)

In Cold Winter's Night, the problem is larger, harder to manage, and requires more research than my stuffy head feels up to. Anyone know anything about cold cases - specifically the cops who investigate them?

Mystery Romance

I now know why there's no mystery-romance sub-genre. Romantic suspense is as far as it gets because it's damn hard to have a real mystery with a romance. I think it's time to tweak the plot here. Romance is still the name of the story (A Cold Winter's Night), and there's definitely a mystery, but I'm thinking suspense rather than bringing them together at the end.

Or maybe tweaking the romance? Hmm, there might be an idea. Change that up a little, make it work in the mystery setting. That might be the way to go here.

Back to writing

Feeling better after my vegging and sleep-filled weekend. Yesterday I managed to write 6 pages of that new mystery set in Chicago. All of it chapter 1, and all of it erotic (well, most, there was the initial setup - no sex there). Oh, and title it. A Cold Winter's Night. I also managed to do some research on the city itself, and discover all sorts of fascinating tidbits about it and its history.

For those interested, 2 sites that give a brief bit about the city:
City of Chicago
Chicago Timeline (provided by the Chicago Public Library)

Maybe one of these days I'll make it over there, it sounds like a great place to visit!