Bloodshed in the Badlands – Judith A. Barrett

When the wind blows Jun 2023 smaller

Everybody knows that trees shouldn’t be planted too close to a house. When a particularly vicious storm roared through our area this summer, the wind took down a gigantic oak tree that was in the woods behind our house.

The good news is that the gigantic oak tree fell away from the house. Even though the tree was in the woods, the root ball was so large that it took our chain link fence with it! An interesting fact is that people who lived in the county south of us didn’t know anything about our severe storm, so I’m positive you didn’t either.

We lived in New Mexico for a number of years where everybody knows about dust storms and tumbleweeds, but I didn’t know about the severe dust storms that plagued Arizona until part of our family moved there a few years ago.

Our oak tree and the dust storms in Arizona reminded me that there are things that only “the locals” know, especially when it comes to weather. I know about hurricanes because we lived in Florida and tornados because we lived in Texas. I also know about blizzards because we lived in Minnesota, but I’m hoping I don’t ever have a blizzard in any of the books I write because I’d get too cold. I have a very active imagination, but you knew that!

My latest novel takes place in Arizona, and my main character is from Georgia, so I knew she wouldn’t know about a ‘haboob,’ which is a word frequently used for the miles long, towering Arizona dust storms with sand and debris. Thank goodness one of the locals told her, or it would have been my shortest novel ever!

What is it that “everybody knows” where you live that a newcomer wouldn’t know? I’m always looking for a weather story I can use in a book!

Interested in reading a book that takes place in Arizona?

Bloodshed in the Badlands Cover April 24 2023

Wren’s new writing assignment, a haunted campground in Arizona, is perfect except for the killer who wants her dead.

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In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis G. Carroll, we read, “Begin at the beginning,” the King said, very gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”

Start here 4 Sounds logical enough, Wait here but how do we know when we’ve reached The End?

I’ve been like most writers, a great story pops into my head, and I start writing. Midway in the story, usually at the 40,000 word point, I realize I probably need a title, a cover, and a description of sorts. Let the scrambling begin!

With my latest new book, I started with the cover! And not just A Cover, but covers for all the books in the new series. After I had the cover and the title, the description was easy.

I’m just past the 40,000 word mark, and I don’t miss the scrambling. Starting at THE END has made the book easier (notice I didn’t say easy) to write. I think I even know how the series might end – rare for me!