Last weekend my little family and I took a little drive to Scranton (PA) to have some fun, do a few errands, and to celebrate our son Riker’s 4th birthday. It was especially fun for me because I had chosen long ago to have Scranton as the backdrop city/town for the book I’m writing. It was an exhilarating chance to explore the inner artistry of my stage.

Some of you have heard me mention a few times about this novel, but I have yet to mention it on my blog. So for those that don’t know, I started writing a murder mystery novel about 3 years ago, I worked a year, then took an almost 2 year break, and now a couple of months ago I started writing feverishly again! I’m determined to finish by the end of this year. (Pray for me, please!)

It’s the story of a unfulfilled singer who is thrust into a world of impossible love, deception, hypocrisy, and murders, when a serial killer invades her life and exposes secrets she never knew she had.

My goal is to create this raw world that shows the inner struggles and relatable tragedies (some scenes may be too extraordinary to be common, but they result in all too real outcomes) that befall this woman, named Loralie Campdon.  It’s fast paced, but with room to breath and wonder at what could befall next, be it blood, love, or another dark shadow.

The whole book takes place in this electric city called Scranton. It’s charming, cold, inviting, dark, trendy, yet scary all at the same time. There’s history there with a past vibrant and bustling, low points where populations sank, and a possible bright future. Sounds like a perfect to home for a sinister serial killer…

One of the first scenes in my novel, we meet Loralie in this trendy coffee shop. We get a peak into her seemingly perfect world when she first discovers the first glimpse of oncoming disaster.

This coffee shop, coincidentally actually exists! I’m not a regular here so I’m not an expert on their menu to recommend it to you (although I very much enjoy their almond milk lattes!), but I do want to show you how adorable this place truly is! I got the privilege to take some pictures when I visited “Northern Lights Espresso” last week. Take a little journey with me there…

May I lastly wet your palate with an insert from the beginning of my novel (working title “The Judas Killer”) …

Past these two tables, the little café was crowded with people minding their own business. Each of them in their own little messed up world. No one, that I could see, was looking at me.

Wait, hold that thought.

Every muscle in my body froze. There was a shadow watching me from the back corner.

A tall figure leaned against a book shelf that was crammed full of novels and cookbooks. His face and shape were obscured in the shelf’s shade. He was clothed in dark murky colors, but stood out like a sore thumb because of his sunglasses and fedora placed awkwardly on his head.

Didn’t he know Pennsylvania hadn’t seen the sun for weeks now? He appeared to be a man that wouldn’t care about that or anything for that matter. Except for me, he clearly cared about me.

I hope I now leave you wanting more. Until next time, this is a writer, who wishes her name was Loralie, signing off… Until my next adventure!