A Very Private High School

I wish I felt more enthusiasm for the launch of my new Dave Mason mystery. For me, once I’m finished a book, that is, the revised revised final final version, I’m really done with it. And by then I’m onto to the next book and all its problems and challenges.

I want to leave behind the elitist world of private education, car theft, and hit-and-run tragedy.

A Very Private High School, coming soon, is the fourth in the Detective Dave Mason series. Dave Mason, my fictional homicide detective with the Santa Monica Police Department, has been living inside my head for fifteen years and we know each other well.

I want to see him make a splash and get some attention but oh, the work that lies ahead. The only reason I wish I were 25 again is all the energy I had then. I marvel at Marilyn Meredith and her pace of accomplishment.

Coupled with a natural shyness is the realization that I can’t do it all anymore, and need to portion out my energies in a sensible fashion. I wish I could also say that writing is the only thing I do and I beaver away at it eight productive hours a day. But life is interesting.

I’m working in a small group spearheading the startup of a community radio station in the area where I live. I’m on the board of the LA chapter of Sisters-in-Crime, and meeting next week to discuss the startup of a chapter of Sisters-in-Crime in Bakersfield. And next week is the California Crime Writers Conference in Los Angeles where I’m heading a panel on blogging.

I love Dave Mason, and A Very Private High School is a good book, but I’m daunted I must admit. Any other mystery writers who have felt this way?

Where do you draw your energies from at this point in the launch of a new book?