Guest Blogger: Judy Alter – Never Throw Out a Manuscript

Never Throw Out a Manuscript by Judy Alter

Back in the day we used to say every author had a stack of unpublished manuscripts in the basement or the closet. Today, those hidden gems are on our computers. I recently reclaimed one from the forgotten files.

In the spring of 2017, I started a culinary mystery about a TV chef, Irene Foxglove, and her assistant or gofer, Henny (Henrietta) James. The story was set in Chicagoโ€™s historic Hyde Park, the neighborhood of my childhood. It was fun for me to revisit familiar places, but still I ran out of steam. In spite of the protests of a reader who said she liked it and thought it had promise, I abandoned Irene and Henny.

Other nice things intervenedโ€”a contract with Rowman and Littlefield to write The Second Battle of the Alamo led to a working relationship with one of the best editors Iโ€™ve ever had. She shepherded through a contract for a second nonfiction manuscript and reprints of five of my historical novels. And she was encouraging about a proposal on a project I had in mind.

But then COVID-19 hit, and editorial work at Rowman and Littlefield went on hiatus. I was left at loose ends. I wrote blogs, I read books, I fiddled. Like much of America, I was anxious about the pandemic, but I had nothing to distract me. Work was always my usual refuge when life got tough, but this time work failed me. I couldnโ€™t come up with a new project with several others hanging fire.

Then one April day, impulsively, I opened the file of the culinary novel and re-read. To my surprise, I thought, โ€œThis isnโ€™t half bad.โ€ I liked the voice, and I saw plot possibilities. Being a pantser, I began to write. I wrote almost daily, and the story flowed more easily than some of my others By July, I had a finished manuscript.

Not only was it fun to research the Hyde Park and discover changes since I was last there, the story allowed me to explore food writing, a subject that increasingly interests me. With Henny, I figured out new recipes and spent long hours in the kitchen. I fell into the stereotype and gave Irene a faux French background, enough to add to the mystery. Of course, there was intrigueโ€”Irene was clearly distraught and hiding something. And then there was a murder and a kidnapping. And there was a hint of romance. That too-handsome guy next doior became Hennyโ€™s best friend as she recognized, with regret, that he didnโ€™t much like girls.

It all came together with a climactic scene at Chicagoโ€™s fabled Palmer House Hotel, another fun bit of research for me.

Today that manuscript is a published book, available in print or digital form. The title is Saving Irene, though, being an old-fashioned hymn singer, Iโ€™ve had a hard time to keep from calling it Saving Grace. And one of my fans write that though sheโ€™s read all my mysteries, this is the best one ever.

Me? Iโ€™m exploring other old back files on my computer.

 

6 thoughts on “Guest Blogger: Judy Alter – Never Throw Out a Manuscript”

  1. Judy,
    Thanks for being here. Good luck on the new book. Btw, know you are teaching a class on culinary aspects in mystery (couldn’t fit it in right now) — will you be teaching it again in the near future?

    1. I don’t know about teaching it again. I guess we’ll see if they ask me and how the reaction is this time around. So far, I’ve got two enthusiastic students and a bunch of lurkers, but they tell me that’s not unusual.

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