Jillian Chantal

I wrote “THE END” yesterday on my cozy mystery I challenged myself to write. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at writing one.  I loved them as a kid and eagerly devoured every one I could get my hands on. I’m a huge fan of Martha Grimes’ Richard Jury series- if you  haven’t read them, get thyself to a bookstore and dig in- they are witty, charming and great mysteries.

Part of my dream was to be able to write  a character I could love enough to hang out with long enough to make a series of these kind of books. In my protagonist, Levi Mendenham, I think I’ve found him. He’s a former NSA Special Agent and is now the owner of a bookstore on the coast of Florida.  He has a quirky dog, a female friend that’s a novelist and a Cajun cop that rubs him the wrong way. 

I first thought the thing was kicking my butt and it may turn out that that’s true.  I haven’t read back through it to make sure I dropped enough clues to whodunit, but I think I can fix that if I haven’t.  I’m going to let it simmer on the back burner until I get back from my trip to Los Angeles next week.  Then I’ll dig back in and see what I  have.  I do know there’s not a sex scene in the thing- that was different!