Paige Hawthorne: Blog

The reader scores - not that I pay the slightest attention to them - plunged on one story. "Winter's Dilemma" had a final chapter that chronicled abuse of homeless people in a rogue California lab.

My motley crew - Thorny and Steve (was Mike involved back then?) - wanted me to cut out most of the nasty stuff. I toned it down, but, according to reader reactions, not enough.

This brings up a larger question. Do I write from my gut? Or chase reader scores that I don't even notice? Easy. I'll continue to listen to my muse. Harvey? You there? Harvey?

Paige

P. S. Gratuitous sex seems to be fine in here. Interesting, that's the opposite of movie and TV parental guidance warnings. Go figure.

For the handful of you Winter sleigh riders still aboard … here's an update on my current stab at writing decent fiction - "Winter's Secret". I set an improbable task for myself. Good intentions, but you know what they say about paving that road.

I decided to model 'Secret' after four of my faves:

Robert B. Parker for his terse prose. Spenser.

Alexander McCall Smith for his philosophical musings. Isabel Dalhousie.

Ross Thomas for his storytelling. "Chinaman's Chance".

Robert Crais for his smartass detective. Elvis Cole.

Result? A conflicted mishmash of gibberish. And over 40,000 words deleted.

Action plan? Set the Unattainable Bar even higher:

Elmore Leonard - "Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip."

Good night and good luck.

Paige

Perhaps there is nothing to worry about. Still there is some concern … understandable concern. My three "Winter" editors - Thorny, Steve, and Mike - have gone missing.

Now let's dispense, immediately, with the popular conspiracy theory that their Winter-involvement has put them in harm's way. Bosh. If not tosh.

Yet.

Their continued radio silence is worrisome. Some readers are speculating it has something to do with the notorious Clitorides Awards. Where one of their authors is, apparently, falling behind in the voting.

Not that I care about ephemera such as awards, reader scores, etc. Certainly not when we're talking about human safety. So let it go forth, from this day forward, that I am posting a reward for information leading to safe return of the three MIAs.

The cash value is equal to the annual remuneration I pay each editor.

Let us prey,

Paige

Ever so many of you have asked how my editors are doing now that they have finished working on "Winter's Woes." Very thoughtful of you.

These wary, beleaguered editors - Thorny, Steve, and Mike - slogged their way through this sodden account like real troupers. This time around only two of them required prolonged bedrest. Unfortunately the third has become overly intimate with a certain Kentucky-distilled product.

I'm relying on you not to tell them that I am toiling away on yet another Winter story; recuperation could be affected.

Paige

So many readers have asked me why I consistently write my Winter stories in such a rigid chapter capture. Well, technically, no one has actually inquired about that particular subject. But I imagine ever so many of you are curious.

Here's the why behind the what:

Check out one of my story pages. The one where you click on which chapter you want to read. You'll note that there are precisely three rows of four chapters each. And four columns of three chapters each. Symmetry.

Or OCD.

Paige