If you’re a cozy mysteries fan, you’ll want to get to know my writing coach client and author, Jeff Hutcheson, and his Lost Key Mystery series.
To be honest, neither Jeff nor I initially realized that Going Barefoot, which he published a year ago this week, was going to be a series.
The inaugural novel centers around Bailey, a free spirit whose happy place is driving her yellow jeep along the Florida Gulf Coast. I fell in love with her on the first page of the first draft.
Jeff wasn’t really sure where his novel was going at first, so it was fun to follow the ins and outs of Bailey having to save her hometown of Lost Key from an unscrupulous and downright corrupt developer. Eventually, success for Bailey required overcoming her self-doubt, trusting her intuition, and “going barefoot.” I’m guessing Jeff would agree that the same could be said for him when it came to writing and then self-publishing his manuscript.
Over the next few weeks and months, as we worked on publishing and launching his book, the Lost Key characters wouldn’t go away. Before long, Jeff had started to noodle another storyline, this time revolving around Bailey’s marine biologist best friend, Keri. Suddenly, we knew that Jeff hadn’t just finished his first novel, he was about to launch his first book series.
I’ll let Jeff reveal the title of his latest cozy mystery, which he’ll be doing soon since he’s already finished the rough draft. This novel has gone much faster than the first one, in part because Jeff had a more defined sense of plot before he started and, in part, because he better understands his creative process. So, if you haven’t curled up with Going Barefoot yet, you might want to grab a copy so you can roll right into the sequel when it comes out this summer or early fall.
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