That’s a working title, but it’s better than ‘Thirteen’, which was the working title of Delamere 11 until yesterday. As I search back through my notebooks, I see other options written at the top of pages as ideas occurred: ‘Attempting Fate’ was another – a nice play on words, perhaps, but only slightly to do with the intricate plot of this one, where some characters are tempting fate by breaking superstitions. ‘A Baker’s Dozen’ was another, but that’s weak, except it gave me an idea for book 12, which may be the last in this series – and the title won’t be ‘A Baker’s Dozen.’
I keep handwritten notes as I go, and for this first draft, there are 16 pages of them. If I look back through the book to previous novels and their notes, I find A Depraved Indifference has 14, whereas Snake Hill only has 7.5, because some books are easier to keep track of than others.
A Night of Opposites, or whatever it is called, has a detailed backstory to it, but this is only known by the villain and by the reader- there’s a challenge for you. How do the characters find out what we and the baddie know without making it too easy? It’s a case of connections, and some are thin, but vital. Details are also vital, which is why I keep the notes. Often, when I am on a new page of notes, and something important is further back, I repeat that word as a reminder at the top of the page I am noting on. Therefore, I look back and find oddments at the top of the pages, and for the current WIP, some read like this:
11. Orlando Active 1887 onwards. | 61/married at 25/son born 1859/ died 1882. | Jinks | Blanch | Ormolu clock | “Opposite” | 6 is next door | Exploding cocoanuts |
That last one is real but not what you might think!
I shall ask you what you might think once the book is out there, and that should be out in April, depending on how the second draft goes.
That’s all for later. Here, for now, if you are looking for something spicy to read and you missed the last newsletter, here’s a list of titles that might spice up your life this spring.
M/M Erotica – March
Romance / Active/Erotica and Romance / LGBT
The title says it all – Anything goes in these 71 erotic novels.
Including ‘The Mentor of Wildhill Farm.’ (NSFW)
