First, and most important, was learning that she could actually finish a whole book. Second, she needed to know more about the motives, setting, characters, and clues before she started. When she'd started on the book about Priscilla, the name of the main character was really all she knew. It was no wonder it took her so many years to turn it into a novel.

She'd had no "map" that time. Worse, she'd

had no list. Jane was an obsessive list maker in

every other area of her life. Why hadn't she real‑

ized that she needed to apply this skill to writing?

One thing she'd sensed, if not heard precisely,

at the mystery conference was that writing was a

job. A profession. At least for those who had been successfully published. Even Felicity Roane, her favorite author, had a new book out every nine or ten months. You couldn't do that by winging it every day, Jane suspected.

When she'd started the first book, she'd considered it something that might turn into a book. Or maybe only a fairly long short story. She had had no plan at all.

This time she wanted a map — of sorts. The main things she wanted to see and do if she were to take a long road trip. Conversely, she wanted to be able to wander the side roads when she spotted a billboard that promised there was something interesting to do or eat or learn about if you turned off at the next exit. That would be the best way to approach it if she wanted to succeed in the long run.

She'd already started making notes about who was the perp, who were the other likely suspects — and what their supposed motives were. There was also a list of clues, four or five good ones, she hoped she could insert without drawing attention to them. She was still working on a list of twenty or twenty-five things that might or might not happen.