This month’s big news: I finally finished the first draft of my new supernatural mystery thriller novel. This is slightly later than originally projected, but the novel threw out a few unexpected branches despite being meticulously planned. The first draft weighs in at about 100,000 words, but there will be some cuts to the manuscript for various reasons.

I’ll make trims due to the usual rewriting and tightening. However, more importantly, this first draft includes the beginnings of a few plot threads intended for subsequent novels, as this story is the first in a series. These brought the bigger mystery behind the series to life and helped in the planning of subsequent novels, but I’ll remove them in the second draft as I don’t want to frustrate readers with too many questions and loose ends in book one. The central mystery of the first novel is complete and satisfying in and of itself, so I intend to minimise hints and clues of the bigger, overarching narrative to come. Incidentally, JK Rowling did a similar thing when she removed the explanation of Horcruxes from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and saved it for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince four books later.

Thanks to this slightly inflated and overembellished first draft, I already have solid outlines for books two and three, plus a book I intend to appear around the middle of the series and the final book. Because I’m not entirely sure how many novels this series will run to, I can’t say exactly where that middle book will appear at this point. However, once I have the other novels plotted out (each will be a standalone mystery), the bigger plan will continue to evolve, and eventually, I’ll settle on a final number for this series. It could be as many as twelve novels, and it is certainly the most ambitious writing project I’ve ever undertaken.

The plot remains strictly under wraps for now. However, an extended version of this update, featuring details of the lead characters, some of the folklore that inspired the supernatural tinges of this mystery thriller, and an exclusive title reveal, is available if you become a Patreon supporter at Free Citizen of the Dillon Empire level or higher. Click here for more information. In the meantime, I’m about to start work polishing up various short stories as well as the second draft of the novel I wrote this time last year. Watch this space.

(Header Image created by author in Canva.)