It's About Time: A White Feather Mystery

Dropping Hints for a Future Novel

When writing a novel, ideas for the next novel often pop into my head. Sometimes the idea is prompted by a character or event in the current novel. Sometimes the idea comes from outside the current novel. In either case, I may insert a hint for the reader. I call it “planting seeds”. For example, in “Ludwig’s Fugue,” Benny Cook was introduced including his relationship to Chief Buster Crab. In the second White Feather Mystery, “It’s About Time,” Benny Cook is the victim of a poisoning. In this second book, Lizzie Dawson is introduced. She becomes the main character in the third book “Ghosts of St. Jude.” In both the first and second mysteries, Gabby, the part-time dispatcher at the Sheriff’s Office is caught reading paperbacks written by local author Agatha Christopher. In the third mystery, the reader gets to meet the local author and she gets entangled in a real-life mystery. These are just a couple of examples of seeds planted in the novels. The astute reader will find many of these little hints.