Tom Saric's Blog

So now that Don't Look In has been released to the world, I've turned my focus to finishing the second book in the Gus Young thrillers series.

I'm thrilled with how the first book turned out, and that motivates me for book two. I'm excited to see how Gus and the other characters will develop as the series goes on.

I'm grateful to everyone who has helped create this book and get it to market. I'm thankful for all of the readers who have picked it up, and those who may pick it up in the future. The idea that people are reading what I wrote is just the coolest feeling.

Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!

my Don't Look In is finally available for purchase! It is a really exciting day for me, and I am thrilled to release Gus Young out into the world.

I get a lot of support for my writing. My family, my friends, my early readers, my editors, my publisher all significantly improve the quality of the book and, frankly, I don't think I could do it without them.

I also get a lot of motivation from readers. Seeing their opinions of the book, answering questions, or just talking about books in general all help me get in the mindset to write. So a big thank you is in order.

I hope you have a great day and if you decide to pick up the book, I hope you enjoy it.

Cheers!

Yesterday, my first batch of Don't Look In copies came in. It was super exciting. Even though I know what the cover looks like, I know what's inside, it is still a really amazing experience. Touching it, feeling the paper, seeing how thick it is. All of this makes the book seem real.

I've tried writing in a variety of different ways over the years. First by having no outline at all, and just going for it. I'd read about authors who just let the 'story tell itself.' Sadly, my stories refused to do so.

Second, I tried a method where I wrote a series of outlines. Each one more detailed than the last, until the book was essentially complete. I found that to be boring and never got past outline 1.5.

I took a hybrid approach for Don't Look In and I wrote it more efficiently than any other book and it was also the most enjoyable, so I thought I would share.

(1) I began with a reasonably detailed outline (about six pages).

(2) I kept track of how much I wrote each day on a spreadsheet, calculating my words per hour.

(3) From this exercise I learned that the longer my writing session were, the faster I wrote. So, I got away from the 'write an hour a day no matter what' approach and instead, wrote once or twice a week for 5-7 hours each time. My productivity increased. I also found it less stressful, because on those days I had only one item on my to-do list: write.

(4) I wrote longhand. This helped because it makes it difficult to go back to what I had written the previous day and edit. On a computer, I found this impulse to edit far too tempting.

This is the approach I am taking for Believe In Me, the sequel to Don't Look In and I find it to be a good fit for me.

Storm Chips. It's a Canadian East Coast thing.

Here, we get a lot of storms, especially in the fall and spring. And a few times, the region has been hit hard by storms, taking out power, and shutting the cities down for up to a week.

So whenever a storm is approaching, East Coasters head out to get supplies in case things get bad. That includes things like batteries, fuel, food.... and well, chips.

If you wait to head out to the grocery store only hours before the storm is scheduled to hit you could be out of luck. The chips aisle in most stores will be raided, empty, cleared of all chips! So an experienced East Coaster knows to stock up on their storm chips well ahead of closing time.

So as Hurricane Teddy approaches, I realized that I am low on my chip supply. So here I go rushing out to the grocery store, hoping, just hoping that there are a few bags left.

Stay safe everyone!

If you order Don't Look In " in any format (it is available as e-book, soft and hardcover, and audiobook), send me proof of purchase (screenshot is fine) and your address and I will send you a signed Don't Look In themed bookmark wherever you may live! Right now, the ebook is priced at 99 cents!

Send me the info either through email: tom@tomsaric.com.

Or message me through Facebook or Instagram

Thanks!

So up here in the 'Atlantic Bubble' ( google it, apparently we are considered the "New Zealand of the North") where covid is a rarity right now, school has restarted.

Having the kids home 24/7 was good because the lockdowns eliminated distractions and we were able to bond. But it was exhausting.

So school restarting was welcome from my perspective. My kids too, were uncharacteristically excited about returning. They missed their friends. I think they missed the structure.

So now that my parenting duties have been reduced by 6 hours a day, I have to re-establish my old routines. It's like I'm emerging from a 6 month hibernation. I'm hoping to get deep into writing book two of the Gus Young series (book 1 is Don't Look In), get sleep back to a regular schedule and hopefully see a few friends that I haven't had the chance to see.

Prayers that everyone stays well.

In addition to ebook, paperback and hardcover formats, my new book Don't Look In is also going to be released as an audiobook.

Needless to say, I was pumped when I heard this! I know a lot of people who listen to audiobooks, so the idea of reaching readers (or listeners?) through this medium was exhilarating.

The process has been neat too. I listen to the book three chapters at a time, listening for any errors or mispronunciations that might need to be corrected.

I read my manuscripts out loud to myself, but I've never heard anyone else read my book aloud. It is a totally different experience. I find that in some ways I see the story in a whole new light, with new perspectives on the characters and their dilemmas.

On October 6, my new book Don't Look In is going to be released!

I'm really excited about this one. It is the first in a series that features Gus Young, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst that practices out of a back room in a hardware store in rural Maine. Gus was a really fun character to write and I am already deep into book 2, tentatively called Believe In Me.

Here is the blurb:

Readers of Craig Johnson’s Longmire series and C.J. Box’s mysteries will devour Tom Saric’s Don’t Look In, a novel of psychological suspense.

"...a masterpiece of psychological suspense." —Brian Shea, author of the Boston Crime Thriller series

Psychiatrist Gus Young didn’t always see patients in the back of a hardware store. Before he came to rural Maine, he was a man with a past—past successes, past scandals... and past enemies.

Now he lives in the woods, struggling with his memory, trying to reconcile with what little family he has left, and learning the secrets of his neighbors. One of those secrets is getting people killed.

When Wanda Flynn turns up dead, the police are interested in a number of Gus’s patients. Gus himself has suspicions, but when the evidence starts pointing in his direction he must discover who would have killed the troubled young woman, and do it without breaking the confidentiality of his practice.

His investigations will take him into the dark underbelly of the otherwise sleepy town, into his own past failings, and into the brutal path of revenge.

Tom Saric, author of Indicted and Compromised, pens a twisting novel of psychological suspense, introducing a psychiatrist trying to save lives while battling his own demons. With sharp turns, Saric opens Gus’s case files, letting loose a bevy of reasons to kill, and to kill again.

I might be writing this a bit too soon, as the draft still needs a quick once over, but I'm going to go ahead and say it: I just finished a draft of my next book, the first in a new series.

I get a high when a book is done, a sense of relief and accomplishment that is hard to describe. I usually get a bit of sadness, like grief because its over, but this time around I didn't. I assume that it is because there are more books coming in this series.

Off to the editor it will go, and then I get a break until the revisions come back. I enjoy editing more and more because I can see the story take shape.