On writing ‘An Empty Seat on the Ferry’

The second book in the Covington Mystery Series, An Empty Seat on the Ferry, is working its way through the publication process, with a release date still several weeks away. The manuscript is written, pending final editing and proofreading, and a cover is being designed.

With that in mind, I thought I’d share some insight into the second book that features the two main characters -- married journalists Rob and Jennie Covington -- first introduced in Time Capsule published last year.

I wrote Ferry over a couple of months about this same time last year. The idea for the book came to me pretty much out of the blue, although I did start out with three facts [SPOILER ALERT] that were revealed at the conclusion of Time Capsule:

     (1) First, after solving the time capsule mystery, we learned that Rob and Jennie continued working for the Fort William, Md., News-Herald while writing a best-selling book about the case.

     (2)   During that time, Jennie gave birth to a baby girl they named Anne Elizabeth Barkley Covington.

(3)   Soon after their book was published, they moved into a Victorian-style cottage on one end of Martha’s Vineyard, where they planned to write a second book about some other open cold cases in Massachusetts.

Reporting those details at the end of the first book set the stage for the opening chapter of Ferry, in which Rob and Jennie toss around ideas for another true life mystery book. They settle on two open cold cases involving a missing woman from the Vineyard and a girl who disappeared from a neighboring town. Their search for clues leads them to two new characters: Alvin Funderburk, Rob’s old-school editor at the Vineyard Daily Packet; and Samantha Ellsworth, a state police detective who investigated one of the cases.

So I had them meet with Alvin and “Sammie” to begin collecting information. From there, I allowed my imagination to take over and a story began to unfold. I opened my mind and asked myself some questions. What would Rob and Jennie think? What would they say and how would they say it? What would they do with the first set of clues? Where would it take them and who would they meet? I wrote it all down as the answers started coming to me, and before long, my thoughts had become a completed story. I went back then and filled in a few details.

As with all of my books, I didn’t know the ending of Ferry when I wrote Chapter 1, but I allowed the story to flow in a logical direction and eventually, the ending revealed itself in its own good time. To me, that’s a more natural way of writing than starting with an ending and then having to write a specific narrative to get there, although other authors might not agree.

So anyhow, the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard is on its way across the water as we speak, and it will reach the shoreline before you know it. I can’t wait for all of you to read my work and tell me what you think. I don’t know when it will roll off the press, but trust me, you’ll know as soon as I do.