I’ve been quiet, fairly quiet. Aside from the Future Book short story competition I haven’t sent out any short stories since August. Why?

Because I’ve been writing a fantasy novel, and now the first draft is done.

I spent July planning, and the plan was to spend autumn writing. I started in August, and then I spent autumn writing; I spent winter writing. I have a day job, and it is busy, I have a life, and it is busy, and so it all took longer than I’d hoped but it is done.

The result is something I’m happy with. It is a scrappy draft at the moment, but the shape is there and the story is there. There is still much to be done to make it what I want it to be, threads to be resolved, others to expunge.

What is it about? A stolen child, a sleeping god, a desperate soldier

Why a fantasy novel? I love fantasy, storytelling that rejects metaphor or allegory and takes us elsewhere. I was afraid to write a fantasy novel, because I read and have read so many fantasy novels- when you are immersed in a genre, it is easy to be cowed by the wonderful pieces of work you know and love in that genre. I wanted to write something I would want to read- magic and monsters, adventure, wonder.

What was the process? I like to plan, but the plan changed as I went, and the story grew. I made endless excel sheets and story circles in notebooks, lists of characters and plots of their arcs. I wrote, and each day I read and edited what came the day before and then kept writing. I listened to old RPG soundtracks.

What happens next? Edits, discussions. I have some kind beta-readers who are going to have a look. The edit may be short or long, but I will keep you updated. I will try to ramp up the short fiction in the interim as a palate cleanser, and to get back on that horse

I’m having a good week