When you write in different genres, one of the biggest challenges is making each book unique, and that begins with “the voice.”  I’m not talking POV, like first or third person…but this over-riding feeling of being immersed in a world that look, sounds, and feels like none other.

When I sit down to write about Linden Corners and the windmill, I have to dig deep for the language.  It’s a more lyrical approach, more heartfelt, and the imagery has to have a poetic feel to it.  The character of Brian Duncan fuels that voice, and he’s as good a companion as anyone could ask.  Hard-working, kind, always thinking of others.

Then there’s Todd Gleason.  For readers familiar with LONDON FROG and CALIFORNIA SCHEMING, Todd is the polar opposite of Brian Duncan…but yet, you still like him.  At least, I hope you do.  He’s opportunistic, just a bit vain, and always out for that big score. But not completely at the expense of others.

For the past couple of years I’ve been concentrating on Linden Corners, with the writing and publication of A CHRISTMAS WISH, A CHRISTMAS HOPE, and the forthcoming THE MEMORY TREE.  So when it came time to start writing about Todd Gleason again, I worried that I wouldn’t be able to find that snarky, flippant voice that pervades those crime novels.

Silly me.  Maybe it was the practice I got earlier this year when a friend asked me to write a Todd Gleason short story for an upcoming anthology or maybe Todd is just part of me. But this week when I started playing around (finally!) with the third full-length Todd Gleason novel he just appeared, as if…the wind had brought him to me.  Maybe he’s got a couple things in common with Brian.

I’m just a couple chapters into the new book and busy outlining the next few, but already I feel that creative energy pulsing from my fingertips to the keyboard.  My brain is swirling with ideas on how to twist the story to near-impossible levels.  How am I going to get Todd out of this latest situation?

Trust your instincts, trust that voice.

At some point this summer, I’m going to release in eBook format TWO TODD TALES, which feature the only two short stories I’ve written using this character.  It’s a fun sampler of a character who will hopefully see lots of play in the coming years.  He’s so much fun to write about.  I’ll keep you posted on that release, as well as that of the book I’m writing now, THE CANNES CON.