Or rather, we have been!
It seems to have happened in the blink of an eye, but Paula Harmon and I have written another book together. Caster & Fleet 5, to be precise.
Book 4, The Case of the Masquerade Mob, felt like a BIG book. Lots of characters and things going on, often unexpected; we were both to blame for that!
Book 5 is, in a way, a departure from that. Paula said she fancied doing a country-house mystery, and that, I think, is what we’ve done. With added complications, naturally, because this is Katherine and Connie we’re talking about here!
And now it’s written. Edits and whatnot to come, of course, including deciding on a title, but the first draft is done. I’ve put away my notes, closed all the tabs I had open on the computer for reference, and now the draft is sleeping until we’ve had enough time away to look at it with fresh eyes.
But that little space between books is odd. I’m happy that we’ve finished the book, and it’s been tremendous fun to write, but at the same time I’m at a loss – no chapter to write today! It’s been an utter whirlwind (stats below), and I miss it already. Plus my next task is an editing project, and while I like editing, it isn’t the same as creating a whole new book.
When I blogged about finishing book 3, one of the things I mentioned was knowing that we only have so many chapters, so many words left. Somewhere in the middle of the process, during a Messenger exchange, Paula joked that ‘you have XX more chapters to write’. But she wasn’t just talking about this book; she meant this one and book 6.
Which is the last book in this series that we know we’ll write.
And after that, we’re not sure. I have a feeling that the world of Caster and Fleet will burst out somewhere – maybe as more books in this series, maybe in a spinoff – but we’re yet to have that discussion. So for now, books 5 and 6. We’re hoping to have book 5 (complete with title!) out in April or possibly May, and book 6 for summer.
The stats: Book 5 (title unknown)
- 17 days to draft.
- 27 chapters, with a final length of 52,739 words
- Paula wrote 14 chapters, I wrote 13 (alternating).
- Tea consumption: no more than 4 cups a day on my side (I’m being good)
- Murders: well, duh, of course!
- Stolen cabs: 1
- Alarms and excursions (including shenanigans): too numerous to mention!
More news on title, cover, and launch date when we have it!
The featured image is Anna Brassey – Victorian woman writing journal, via Wikimedia Commons, and it is in the public domain.
Liz Hedgecock 