Welcome to August! I know I am only about a week behind. I hope you are all enjoying the How to Write series of posts and the first four chapters of the blog book. I haven’t written a thing on it since the end of July because I am fast at work trying to get out the caper mystery.

I have heard from so many sources that you should “brand” yourself as an author by being known for a specific genre of book. I have sort of been all over the map: YA fantasy, romance, slipstream, short story, novella, novel.

So, this is my attempt to brand myself. I am a caper mystery author. The characters in this book are just plain fun. They get into situations that get them way too close to the police, and they have to get themselves out. They are a mash-up of the Keystone Cops (go look that up) and Lucy and Ethel (yeah, that Lucy).

What is the official description for a caper mystery anyway? Wiki says “The caper story is a subgenre of crime fiction. The typical caper story involves one or more crimes (especially thefts, swindles, or occasionally kidnappings) perpetrated by the main characters in full view of the reader.” So- there’s that. My characters are law-abiding citizens but sometimes they have to bend the law for their purposes. But in truth, I bend the “Rules” for caper stories a lot. Mine have the main characters capering around but the crime is not performed by them. I don’t have the framework of the caper mystery set in stone here either, but I think it is fun.

What is the name of the book? (sorry short story folks, this one is full-length)

Glad you asked.

I haven’t had a lot of success with the original title, Avenging Angel, yes, this book is a reprise of that one. The publisher went out of business and I am putting it back out again. But this time I am giving it a title that hints at the fact that it is a mystery. I am also using a title that hints at the fact that it is a little on the humorous side.

It’s a play on the title “Kiss of Death”. It’s called “Disk of Death”. I have some good ideas for covers which I will post up this weekend.

I also have an interview with the fabulous Cecilia Dominic today that will be up on next Tuesday’s podcast, so things are busy right now! I hope you are enjoying these dog days of summer and looking forward to cooler days ahead!