My Writing Journey by Lena Gregory

My Writing Journey by Lena Gregory

I suppose you could say my writing journey began when I was in the fifth grade and wrote a story using my vocabulary words about a couple of girls getting lost in the woods. To this day, I can remember the only place I lost points—using petrified to mean scared instead of turned to stone. I also remember my teacher’s reaction to my story. She said there was no way I wrote it. Looking back, I still don’t know if she meant it as a compliment or an accusation, but instead of being flattered that she thought my story was so good I couldn’t have written it myself, I was hurt and discouraged. Thus ended my writing journey (unless you count a spiral notebook full of terrible poetry I wrote as an angsty teenager and kept to myself) for the next thirty-five years.

When my youngest son, who is now thirteen, was born, he didn’t sleep through the night. Since my daughter was seven before she started sleeping through the night, I figured I was in for a lot of years of sleepless nights, which was fine by me because I rarely sleep anyway. I’ve always loved reading, but with all those nights looming ahead of me, I decided to give writing a try. I knew nothing about the writing process, didn’t own a computer, didn’t know what Microsoft Word was, didn’t know how to send an email…never mind using track changes for editing. But I wanted to write, so I set up a loose-leaf binder with a divider for each chapter and began writing my first novel by hand. 

Once my husband realized I was serious about writing a novel, he set me up an office and bought me a computer. My best friend taught me how to work Microsoft word, and I took off from there, researching everything I could get my hands on about the writing process. 

At first, I would sit at my computer each night and write whatever came to mind. Usually, what came to mind led to a satisfying conclusion—often with only a few minor tweaks to the storyline. Then one day, I painted my hero into a corner I couldn’t find a way out of. I eventually did, but I was never quite satisfied with the outcome. 

When I started my next book, I was careful to outline the progress of the story and the ending so I wouldn’t have the same problem. That worked out so well, I started plotting everything. I plotted the number of words in each chapter, whose head each scene would come from, how many words would be in each scene. I made sure each point-of-view character got an equal amount of time. Needless to say, too much of a good thing hindered the writing process, and I ended up with a major case of writer’s block. 

Now I’ve found a nice balance between the two. I plot the major parts of the story. I don’t plot the ending. I never decide how a book is going to end or who the killer is until the entire story has been written and gone through several rounds of edits. Once the rest of the story is in good shape and ready to go out for submission, I write the ending. I love being surprised when I find out what happens. 

The first book I wrote was contracted with a small press. and I was thrilled. Of course, that brought a whole new set of learning experiences; editing, using Track Changes, cover art sheets, writing blurbs, and marketing. I was very eager to learn, and I absorbed everything I could over the next few years.

I’ve dreamed of being a published author since I first learned how to read. I’ve always loved to make up stories and often entertained myself that way when I was younger. When I finally signed with my agent, Dawn Dowdle, who sadly passed away in November, she suggested I give writing cozy mysteries a try, and I loved them! 

 I’ll never forget the call from Dawn saying Berkley was interested in Death at First Sight the first book in my Bay Island Psychic Mystery series. I was standing in the middle of the Magic Kingdom with my husband and kids when the call came in on my cell phone. That was the best vacation ever, even though much of it was spent working on rewrites and working out the details of the contract. I will admit, I cried the first time I walked into Barnes & Noble and found my book on the shelf. I still get emotional when I have a new book release. 

Now, I work full-time as a writer and freelance editor. Even though I know what I’m doing more now than I did back then, my writing life isn’t without challenges. I am homeschooling my younger son. My older son, who is twenty-two and on the autistic spectrum, is trying to write his own children’s book and needs help. To make things easier for me to do everything at once, my husband (who is amazing and one of the most supportive men ever, so I am very blessed to have him) built an office in our new house with three work stations, so all of us can work together, and I have never been happier. 

—

Lena grew up in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island, but she recently traded in cold, damp, gray winters for the warmth and sunshine of Central Florida, where she now lives with her husband, three kids, son-in-law, and four dogs. Her hobbies include spending time with family, reading, and walking. Her love for writing developed when her youngest son was born and didn’t sleep through the night. She works full time as a writer and a freelance editor and is a member of Sisters in Crime.

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BATTERED AND BURIED

The best-laid plans may go awry, but the best-laid clues could frame a man for murder . . .

Never one to let a day off work go to waste, café owner Gia Morelli and a friend head out for a blissful kayaking trip through the local national forest. But the peacefulness of the day is soon shattered when they come across Cole, her head cook, standing over a dead body. Worse still, the victim was a lifelong enemy of Cole’s, and clues found on the body point to the cook as the culprit. When the police take Cole in and subject him to an intense grilling, Gia vows to do everything she can to prove his innocence.

As even more incriminating evidence surfaces—including when the murder weapon itself is found hidden at the café—Gia knows she’s up against someone brutal enough to kill and devious enough to frame Cole for the deed. With the police ready to make an official arrest and wrap up what they consider an open-and-shut case, Gia turns for help to an old friend who’s not above breaking the law himself. Because if she can’t find the killer, Cole may go from serving up hot dishes to serving a life sentence . . .

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Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing