Beasting is finished, anyone for a Mince Pie?

 

There isn't anything else I could write about this week. On Friday, 19th January, I finished the first draft of my debut novel, Beasting Dartmoor—nearly 67 thousand words and 210 pages and one word. To say I feel pretty chuffed is a bit of an understatement.

It has been something that has been with me for over three decades. The first efforts were saved on 5.25-inch floppy disks; to be brutally honest, it's more likely to have been writing paper.

I used some of my many life experiences, except the murders, for the story, and yes, there are a couple of characters based on colleagues I may or may not have worked with. If anyone of them is reading this, they'll be panicking. 

So, what now?

The plan for 'Beasting' is to put it aside for a few weeks before starting to edit. Some parts may need a rewrite, and I need to drop a few more hints earlier. And as writers, we're always on the lookout for plot holes.

What now for my writing? After a week where I felt a bit malaise after finishing the book, I'm back on here for this week's blog, and over the weekend, I shall be writing for my next Substack email/post. I can also announce that I have started 'The Mince Pie Murders'. It's a cosy and humorous novel or novella. I need to see where the story goes. I would like to see this work turn into a series if possible. I have started the first chapter and have written a few character sheets. I'm also using an app called MindNode to plot and plan the story. This time, I am writing directly into the Scrivener app rather than copying and pasting from Pages into Scrivener. I intend to use all the bells and whistles of Scrivener this time. 

With the start editing date safely set in the calendar and mince pies already in the oven, I will not likely be slowing down anytime soon.