Decision Made?

While thrashing about over what my next project should be, I came across a dark-horse contender that might just win the race.

Back in 2006 or 2007, a query letter caught the attention of a literary agent, and she had some suggestions for my manuscript about political intrigue and a murder. It was mainly a question of style, and I did a quick rewrite. Then she tried to sell it, and the main interest came from a publisher of romances with a line of romantic suspense novels. They said it wasn't "romance" enough. I had never set out to write a romance, i.e., a story where the relationship is the primary plot, but in the interest of getting published, I did my best to bring out the romantic aspects. It never quite worked out, and I moved on, both to new novels and finding a new approach to getting published.

Over the last few months, I've toyed with some new twists on the original novel, and I think I may have hit upon something. The plot line remains mainly the same--the protagonist is certain the death if a coworker was not suicide but murder--but my protagonist has changed a bit. I've given her some quirks, like an occasional problem dividing her flights of imagination from reality. That's where the twist comes in. I'm thinking that the reader should not be quite certain, at least early on, of whether my character has lost herself in her imaginary life or if what she is experiencing is real. If it is real, then the world she (and all of us) live in is quite different than we think.

A quick look at the original manuscript indicates that even without the changes noted here, a good deal of polishing would be required, reminding me again of how much I have learned about writing and publishing since then.

While "Stranger Faces" is on hiatus, waiting for me to go back to it with fresh eyes, I'll be making notes and planning for "Where Power Lies" as my next project. I already have an idea about an early pivotal scene that's been churning around in my head for a few months now. The fact that I have that gives this novel a huge leg-up on being chosen above all the other possibilities.

Unless, of course, I change my mind again . . .