Work in progress (what I should be doing and what I'm doing to avoid doing that)

This week I have been mostly…..

14/08/2017

This week I have been mostly editing  the seventh  Custodian novel   called The Cryptids. It originally  started life as a short story but has since progressed into a leviathan. You’ll understand my point when you read it.  It’s  set in 1930s Spain and tells the tale of when  Junius and Iulius went off to the seaside together.

I’ve just finished my third  Nephilim short story. Bill, my long suffering husband and first beta  reader is currently reading  it. So all being well,  I’ll be editing that very soon.

There are also still nine Custodian short stories  awaiting publishing. They still need formatting and covers, but I’m hoping one will be on sale next month.  We just have to decide which. I get the final say , of course.

In between editing The Cryptids I’ll also be trying to write  the fourth story in the Nephilim series. I’ve no idea how long it’ll take. If I become inspired by the story and drawn in, then I might be looking at  working well into the night.   When that happens  I have been known to make  3 o’clock  my regular bedtime because I’m so caught up in a book. Everything is so much quieter  at night and I can lose myself. I have been known to  knock out 12,000 plus words  when I’m on  a roll like that, but it’s  rare.  Normally 10,000 is my limit.

At other times  it has  taken me  three months to  even complete a short story. Thankfully uphill struggles like that are rare. Though it depends on a lot of things.

Time will tell what happens with that story.

I also  have a new series awaiting  formatting and covers.  It’s tentatively called The Compass Rose series. Though Doug , my editor and I are calling it the Windy series. All will be revealed when they’re finally published.  At the moment the first two books are edited and will get a final kick and polish when I have had some time away from them.

The follow up to Hold Your Colour, Book two of the Essence series  is officially now called Pass Shaded Ways and will be out later in the year.

The sixth Custodian novel, is edited and awaiting publishing as well. It’s called The Keres. That should be out later in the year as well, or early 2018.

The plan is that when I’ve  finished the fourth Nephilim story I’ll  settle down to writing Inheritance which a standalone spin off from the Custodians’ universe.

I haven’t written about the Custodians for  a few months now and they’re nagging away at me.

I only realised this   when  we visited the Roman Painted house in Dover recently and I had the idea to set a chunk of the eighth story there. They have to go to Roman Britain anyway, because we know Hadrian visited in 122 AD.  So it’s the perfect opportunity to promote a wonderful historical site which has been overlooked for years.

They’re also trying to muscle in on another idea I’ve had about a story set in England a few years before the Norman invasion, but I’m resisting them so far.  For once it’s not Junius, it’s Fabia, and she’s one determined lady. So I might have to give in again.