Book Spotlight: Trinity Sands Beach Club

It should be easier to write a story that's novella-length instead of novel-length, right? My friend Jen Dodrill tells us about her new experience with just such an undertaking. Her new book releases tomorrow, so be sure to read all the way to the bottom to get the full scoop. It sounds like fun!

​When Deborah Sprinkle approached me about joining her in a novella collection, I immediately said, “Sure!” How hard could it be writing 25- 30k words compared to more than double that for a novel? (More on that later!) We invited another author, Sharon Carpenter, and we got started. Keep in mind that while Deb has a number of novels under her belt, I’ve published two, and Sharon has written for anthologies.
Deb, Sharon, and I live about thirty minutes from each other, so we met for lunch to kick off the planning process. I think we were there for four hours! This became the norm for us, and Deb would tell our waitress we were renting the table for half the day. We’d leave great tips. 😊

​Back to the book. Figuring out what the central theme or place would be took a while. We knew it was going to take place in the summer, so we decided to create an island off the Gulf coast of Florida somewhere in the Destin area. We named it Trinity Sands Island.
On the island, we created a Beach Club – a specific section of houses and cottages complete with private beaches and a marshy area with an alligator. We went all out. It took some time to narrow down the characters that all of our characters would encounter. Maude at Maude’s Market was my favorite—quite the crusty old woman. Then there’s Ursula, who cleans for our characters. She’s a gossip and makes sure the other island residents know what’s going on.
Sharon and I used Pinterest to find pictures for these characters, which helped us describe and flesh out their character.
Somewhere in the notes, Deb has a map of the island that she drew. I won’t show you mine—I  can’t draw a cat, let alone a map. Our novellas are all romantic suspense. We each came up with a female character and a storyline for them. We had to compare names and make sure nothing was redundant or had too many of the same first consonant. Then we decided whose novella would come first and what time of the summer each of us would have.
By now, you can tell that writing as part of a novella collection is a bit more involved than simply writing fewer words. To sync all of the stories into a cohesive whole takes some work! What I found when I wrote my novella, SeaBreeze Obsession, is that in a novella, you still have to tell a complete story, you just have fewer words to do it in! Anything extraneous, subplots, multiple side characters, all of that has to go.
During the next few months, Deb, Sharon, and I met more frequently via Zoom than in person. Once we were all actively writing, we read each other's pieces aloud and critiqued them. This wasn’t your typical “sandwich critique” where you compliment, constructively critique, and then compliment. Of course, we didn’t go in like sharks either. We threw compliments around like it was a party!
And we also critiqued and helped each other rework sentences and passages that simply didn’t work. Staying on task and maintaining a good word count was also part of it. Having those expected critique times helped keep us in line. For one of our Zoom meetings, Sharon was going on a trip, but she still participated via Zoom while in the car (as a passenger, not the driver).
One of my very favorite things about writing with these two amazing women is the friendship we have now. We didn’t know each other very well at first, but after spending hours together and especially praying for each other, we’ve become close.
Will I ever write another novella? Yep! Bedlam in Bridal Falls, the second book in the Second Chances: Romance and Mysteries novella collection, will be out in the fall of 2026!

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Trinity Sands Beach Club

​What do a widow, a newly divorced woman, and a retired professor of art history have in common?
They all came to Trinity Sands Island to find a simple life without any entanglements. But instead, they are each confronted with a mystery and another chance at romance. Will they be brave enough to face the possible dangers of solving a mystery and losing their hearts?
This collection includes three novellas:
“Trinity Sands Treasure Hunt” by Sharon Carpenter--Retired art professor Claire Anderson inherited all of her uncle’s worldly goods. Arriving at his Trinity Sands Beach Club bungalow, she faces the daunting task of sorting through the boxes and bags that he left behind.
When someone tries to break in and steal seemingly worthless items, Claire calls Chief of Security, Ben Hastings and sparks fly. Claire and Ben realize all is not as it seems when they set out to discover who is targeting the house.
In their search for answers, will the attraction between Claire and Ben deepen into real treasure?
“SeaBreeze Obsession” by Jen Dodrill--Newly single Karah Halyard returns to her beach cottage and starts “SeaBreeze Designs,” a business specializing in beach decor. But beneath the tentative peace of her life, unresolved feelings stir as she considers reconciling with her ex-husband, Gage, who is in town doing research. When a secret admirer confronts her on the beach, Karah defends herself and runs. That night, he’s found dead. As she and Gage face a murder investigation, they must confront their past and unravel the mystery of the real killer.
Can they solve the crime and reconcile their fractured relationship?
“Searching for Serenity” by Deborah Sprinkle--Grace Caldwell hasn’t been to their beach house since her husband passed away three years ago. Her grief has kept her from moving forward with her life. But, when a letter arrives from her friend, Serenity James, saying something strange is going on at the Beach Club, Grace decides it’s time to head south. However, when she arrives, Serenity has disappeared, and no one knows where she is. Detective Peter Young gets involved and, as Grace and he work together, a mutual attraction blossoms—one that takes Grace by surprise.
Will Grace find love again while solving the mystery behind Serenity’s disappearance?

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Jen Dodrill (the one on the left) is living out her dreams on the pages of her books, bringing readers compelling stories of inspiration and hope for good times and bad.
Her family-focused novels depict her values of cooperation, connection, compassion, and community, demonstrating the importance of helping one another brave the waves of the world together.
As a mother of five, family life and travels have left her with decades of stories to tell, and she cherishes the time she has now to tell them, in between her honored role as Grandma, her passion for reading, and her adoration of all things coffee.
Her first book, Birds Alive! An Empty-nesters Cozy Mystery released February 27, 2024.
For more information about Jen, her books, writing tips, and author interviews, check out her blog:
jendodrillwrites.com

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