Gale Leach -- Author
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Gale's Author Blog

Here you'll find news and notes about my writing and events, as well as articles you may find of interest. For a taste of something more personal, click "Leach Lines" below.

Leach Lines

Justice in a Bug's World

10/29/2013

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When I began writing Bruce and the Murder in the Marsh, I conceived of it as a traditional detective mystery, where Bruce and his friends would discover the murder and then assume the role of detectives in order to solve the crime. Unlike my first novel, where I plotted the entire book in advance, this one was more like Honesty and Justice, where I had an idea of what the book was about, but much of it simply happened as I continue to write.

Two  methods are most often used for fiction writing. One is to outline or graph out the sequence of events that will occur. The writer sets the scene, creates a problem, brings that problem to catastrophic proportions, and then has the hero(es) of the story prevail in the end, growing and changing as a result of the experience. The second method is to start with a scene and a group of characters and a vague idea of the storyline and to just keep writing.

When I hadn't written very much fiction, I could not conceive of writing a book using the second method. I had come from a technical writing background, in which I would prepare an outline for a manual and then fill in the information. The idea that anyone could write a book that was actually any good without some idea of the plot and how all of the themes fit together before hand seemed ridiculous.

The more I began to write, however, my characters would sometimes do things I didn't expect. They would say things that came out of the blue, and they would head off in directions that weren't listed on my map. They met other characters whom I didn't know. I know this sounds strange – I mean, they all came out of my imagination, right? But it's true. And I've read that this happens to other writers also.

So it happened that one day, when I was stuck, trying to figure out how to get my characters out of a situation they had gotten themselves into, that I just let go of my plan and kept writing. Amazingly, and sometimes painfully, for one who had been so regimented, they made their way through the world, and the themes came together, and the plot thickened, and the conflicts resolved themselves. It was a much more interesting journey than the one I had planned.

In Murder in the Marsh, however, something odd happened as I was about halfway through. Bruce, Agatha, Milton, Carly, and Angie were all busy searching for clues that would lead them to the creature who murdered Cecil, Agatha's friend and mentor. Suddenly, Bruce asks Agatha what she would do when she found him or her. Agatha replies, "I'll make sure he gets all that's coming to him!"

 If I had been writing a novel about people, there would have been no issue with this statement. The detectives would discover the identity of the killer, they would confront him at the climax, and eventually he or she would be turned over to the authorities, and that would be that.

In the bug world, however, there are no police. There is no system of justice as we know it. It's a bug eat bug world and none of the conventions that we make use of when writing detective fiction applied here. I almost abandoned the book when I realized that my premise made no sense in this environment.

However, I persevered (in part because I'd gone too far to want to turn back and also because my husband kept urging me to keep going, "just keep writing"), and eventually I was able to arrive at a means for justice to prevail in this world. What options were there? I didn't like the idea of any of them taking justice into their own pincers and claws. I didn't want a deus-ex-machina ending where the bad guy (or gal) would die by a flood or fire or some other accident introduced at random. The best I could think of was ostracism, where the bug community would banish the offending creature. But still that didn't seem enough. What did I end up with? You'll have to read the book to see how exactly what happened. :-)

Will I write another mystery? Perhaps, if I ever abandon Bruce and write about children instead of bugs and animals. Or maybe I'll forget how hard this one was and think, "I could do that again." My mind has a way of lulling me into forgetfulness of the hardships and I tend to only remember the good things. In the meantime, I'm fleshing out the start of a new series of books that are about people, while I think about a new book in Bruce's world. More to come on both of those.

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Bruce and the Murder in the Marsh Is Here!

10/12/2013

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It was touch and go for a while, waiting for the  printer to get all of the books ready for me, but they arrived today (Friday) and all of the books look absolutely beautiful.

I'll have copies of Bruce and the Murder in the Marsh for sale/signing at the Oktoberfest celebration at Sun City Grand (booth 21 in the ballroom near the stage), and you can also see the new covers for the previous three Bruce and Friends books. 

My daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Engel, did a marvelous job creating these. What's more amazing is that I had no idea she was an artist of this caliber. I had been looking for an illustrator for quite a while, when my son, Morgan (her husband) said, "Why don't you ask Elizabeth?"

I wasn't sure about that at first. I have been warned about working with family -- it's better to keep business and family in different rooms. But I took a chance, and I'm so glad. You can see images of the new covers and read a little about the new book on my website at www.galeleach.com.

By the way, I'm trying to spread the word about these books, of course. If you haven't liked my "Gale Leach Author" page on Facebook, I'd love it if you would (I'll send more virtual hugs, and if you come by one of the upcoming signing events, I'll give you a real one, too!). The more likes I can get, the more people will learn of the books, so I thank you in advance.

I'm already working on a new book. Is it in the same series? Is it something completely different? I won't tell, at least not yet. But I will give you some hints as I get farther along.

Thanks to all of you who have made the journey this far so wonderful. Your support is what keeps me going.

My best to you,

Gale


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Like Gutenberg, only digital

10/4/2013

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Despite the fact that I've been using computers for over 35 years, I still marvel at the sheer power I now have to do things that, prior to all of this fantastic technology, would have required countless hours and a lot of manual labor to achieve (the same) result.

I've spent the last few weeks muddling with Photoshop files of book covers sent to me by my daughter-in-law, Elizabeth. Her new cover drawings are beautiful, but the printing process sometimes requires that artwork be extremely vivid in order to reproduce well on a cover. She and I are both learning, and it took time to get a digital file that printed the way we wanted it to. Yesterday, the test prints that I ordered came in the mail, and I selected what I thought was the best one of the bunch and used it to  order a print run for Bruce and the Murder in the Marsh.
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The picture shows the stacks of small versions of the various covers Elizabeth is working on. On the right is a cover I had them print on 50 pages of blank paper, just to see how it would come out. (That was before I thought of printing the tiny versions all together.) 

Although it took over a month of playing with contrast and brightness, using filters, and more, the end results are beautiful, and I think you will like them, too.

Murder in the Marsh is the first book to get a new cover drawn by Elizabeth, but all of the Bruce and Friends books will have new covers before too long. I'll be sharing the artwork in detail as the books are reprinted.

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I also have to share with you something I've also worked hard to achieve: my books are now available on the shelves in the Phoenix area Barnes & Noble stores. I have to hope some of you may send friends to go there and buy them, because otherwise they'll end up on the sale table with so many others, but I'm excited to see them there. 
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Of course, I also need to send a word of thanks to the other two local stores that have carried my books since the beginning: Gifts to Go and Birt's Bistro Bookstore. While "making it" into Barnes & Noble seems to carry some clout, it's Tammy at Gifts to Go and the folks at Birt's who really keep me in business. Be sure to visit these establishments if you get a chance and check out the work of the other local authors that is featured there.

If you ever have questions about how I write books, how they're made, or anything else, please send me a note. I love hearing from you.

Oh, and if you haven't liked my Gale Leach, Author page on Facebook, would you do that? I'll send you virtual kisses and hugs!
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    Gale Leach lives in Arizona with her husband, two dogs, a cat, and a bearded dragon. When not battling fur balls, she's working on a new series of novels for young adults.

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