I’ll level with you: I’m a little clueless as to what to write here. I’d planned an end of year post for quite some time, but I pretty much covered things in a series of posts, from the lessons I’ve learned to my favourite music releases. To cut a long story short, 2012 has been a good year. A very good year.

So, I’ve talked about 2012 a lot before. Enough about 2012! What are you writing in 2013? I hear you cry. Yes, it’s been a great year, and sure, it’s been twelve months of immense progress, where I launched not only two short stories (Something in the Cellar and Silhouette), but completed and launched my debut mystery novel, What We Saw, earlier this month. That’s all good. But what next? What about writing in 2013?

Well, a few things.

I don’t like talking much about work in progress whilst working on the first draft. I find it sucks the creative energy out of the process somewhat. I know people are split on this, but I find it works better for me if I can get the entire first draft out of my system and onto the page the way I envisage it before seeking helpful and necessary feedback.

Which is why I’m delighted to say that I can talk a little about my upcoming second novel, because I’ve completed the first draft.

That’s right! Hot on the heels of What We Saw’s launch, I’ve got another bloody book written.

But… when?! How?!

I started work on this book at the end of summer with one goal in mind: write between 1,000-1,500 first draft words per day. That’s unedited, uncorrected, pure raw thought. I had a rough story mapped out, but as always, I deviated from it. The imagery at the resolution stayed the same throughout, mind, as that’s something I was working towards.

The first draft is just shy of 72k, which is a little short compared to What We Saw’s 80-ishK first draft (cut down to around 75k in the edits), but I always intended for it to be a shorter novel, so that’s okay with me. The story has run its course. It’s gone everywhere I wanted it to go. Stuff will probably be added, stuff will probably be cut. I’ll get to that in the rewrites.

What’s it about, though?

Ha, I love teasing. I still don’t want to say too much just yet. I can say that it has a working title of Killing Freedom, which eagle-eyed paperback readers of What We Saw will have cryptically spotted at the back of their books.

It’s a thriller about a completely detached hitman called Jared who works for a rather prominent mob figure. He is tasked to infiltrate and kill a family, but he forms a bond with this family, and starts to question whether a life of killing is what he really wants, or whether to pursue a clean break. Naturally, there are shit-loads of twists, plenty of action, and a sky high body count. I’m really proud of this first draft, and particularly the character of Jared.

When’s it out?

I don’t want to commit to a release date, but I’d like to have it out next summer. Six months of rewriting and editing is totally achievable, I believe. So, after my Christmas break/university essays, I’ll get straight to the rewrite!

What else are you working on?

One novel isn’t enough, really? Okay. Well, Killing Freedom (w.t.) is probably only going to be the start of Jared’s journey. Whether I want to work within that world again straight away, though… I don’t know. But perhaps that’s a good idea, with it being fresh in my mind.

Regardless, I have a rough idea of a catalysing event in a sequel I want to explore, so we’ll see how the first book does and then get straight to it. I’ll get writing in 2013, hopefully with a view to launch towards the end of the year.

Otherwise, I have a plan for a novella/series of novellas. I kind of want to release a few next year and in 2014 to make up something much larger. Like pieces of a puzzle. It’s all very conceptual, but I will say this — it’s pure horror.

Oi, I pledged and still haven’t received my physical copy! Where is it?

Sadly, the physical copies have to be shipped in from America when I order them (something to do with owner copies, don’t worry about this if you just want to order yourself) so they take a while to arrive. Truth is, I already had all of your copies signed and ready to post.

Then I spotted a minor error.

Being the perfectionist that I am, I sent off for another bunch of copies for you. You should all have received your digital files by now, and to be fair, the pledge details did make it pretty clear that January may be the date of delivery what with the Christmas post fiasco, but I’ll do all I can to get them out for you ASAP. Don’t worry, basically. I haven’t forgotten you, and you’re all in the acknowledgements as recognition of your generosity. 🙂

Regardless, I’ll send you all a free digital copy of my next release after writing in 2013 when it’s available as a sort of apology for the delay. How’s that sound?

Goodbye 2012…

I feel somewhat relieved to finally be able to say goodbye to 2012. In case you haven’t already figured, this will be my last post of the year. I’ve got my editor, Brenda Errichiello, writing up a guest post for the site next Wednesday, just to keep things fresh. I’m sure it will be as enriching a read as everything else over at her site.

So, if the world doesn’t end on 21st December, have an absolutely fantastic Christmas if you celebrate it, and a very, very Merry New Year. I’ll be back on January 2nd to talk about New Year Resolutions for writing in 2013, probably nursing a hangover and Turkey belly.

What are your plans for writing in 2013? Any new releases penned?

Image courtesy of RobW_ via Flickr