It’s the dreariest of January days as I’m writing this. Rain sluices down the window and biting winds bend the trees into submission. Perfect writing weather – I’m just missing a crackling fire and a mug of hot chocolate.
I’m taking a break from writing Quiver and Arrow, the third and final (is it final, though? Are we sure?) book in the Mirrordom Trilogy. And, let’s just say, it’s the darkest one yet. I’m slightly traumatised writing it. There are a lot of deaths.
And there’s also a lot of new characters. You’ll get to meet Arrow, Zenith, Fang, Sapient and more.
How do I keep my writing sharp?
Behind the scenes, I’ve been watching Harlan Coben’s BBC Maestro course on writing thrillers. Now, I’d be the first to admit I don’t have the brains to write a thriller. But I love Harlan Coben, both his books and his Netflix adaptations (do yourself a favour: stop reading this and watch The Stranger. You can thank me later.), but Quiver and Arrow isn’t like the other books in the Mirrordom Trilogy. You can expect more twists and turns than a Scottish single track road. And there’s no one who knows more about twists and turns than Harlan Coben.
You see Quiver and Arrow starts with a mystery. In fact, there’s quite a few mysteries. And they’re all throwing Quiver’s world into total chaos.
If I’m being honest, Quiver was my least favourite character in the Mirrordom Trilogy. I found his ideals naïve and didn’t think he was especially nice to City, a character I always felt terribly protective of. But now Quiver has come into his own – I can sympathise with his actions and choices. And, let’s be real, he’s getting a really tough time in this book. Will it end happily? There are no guarantees with this series.
How much plotting do I do?
I plot a lot. But I find that it doesn’t really matter if I do or not. I can write the entire plot out, chapter by chapter, and still I get surprised. The act of writing the book, for me, is an entirely organic process. By that I mean that it grows like a plant. I can encourage it in a certain direction. But I have no real control over it. It happens how it happens. Which is very annoying because I’m a planner by nature and I’d quite like to stick to the plan I had at the start.
How do I think of new characters?
The character of Arrow was actually dreamed up back when I wrote the first book in the series. I liked the way her name matches with Quiver’s. However, I never got round to doing anything with her until the third book.
I also decided I wanted Quiver to have a pet, so I gave him a beautiful, pure-white wolf called Fang that never leaves his side.
And what book would be complete without a villain? You’ll have to wait to find out who the villain of this story is, but I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
What are you working on this January? Are you reading anything exciting? I’d love to hear all about it.
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