All done.
In the end, I managed to write just over 61000 words in the month. The first draft is now with my editor and I’m eagerly awaiting her verdict.
Obviously, I don’t want to give too much away about the story, but I must admit that I’m rather pleased with the way it all turned out.
When you come to write the next part of a series, there’s that nagging feeling that the whole thing may have run it’s course and you might be running out of ideas.
Fortunately, I had a few plot threads to play with.
The concept for this one started with the unfinished business at the end of Andorra Pett on Mars, the second novel in the series. As time went on, I tried to think of a way to resolve all those issues, as well as some new ones that had come up in the third and subsequent stories.
This story is the result.
In the time that Andorra was away, the colony on Mars that I had built in my mind had developed. That gave me a lot more science and worldbuilding to explore, and more for the characters to do. This is probably my favourite part of the process, creating a believable, functioning world for the story to take place in.
Checking out the science takes up quite a lot of time.
In addition to the established regulars, a few new characters were also introduced and a few old faces popped up in cameo appearances.
Considering that it’s the sixth full-length adventure for Andorra, I was relieved to find that I wasn’t running out of things for her to get involved with. There’s the usual mixture of crime fighting, spaceship flying and haphazard clumsiness from Andorra and her trusty sidekick, Cy as they battle to stay alive.
I think that the reader will be surprised by the ending, in a good way.
On the dusty plains of Mars and in the Caves of Tharsis, Andorra Pett is on a mission.
She has to return to where Maisie met her end, there’s unfinished business to attend to. But things have changed on Mars, this isn’t going to be the easy job that she’d hoped it would be.
If that wasn’t enough, her partner, Derek’s, daughter, the one who tried to kill her, is due to be released from prison. She’s on Mars, too.
Which means Derek will have a reunion with the wife who left him. Where more secrets are sure to come out.
Meanwhile, all the people who Andorra’s upset recently are gathering, ready for what might be a final showdown.
Is this the end of the road for Andorra?
What happens next?
When I get the corrected manuscript back, I’ll go over it and probably write another several thousand words. Then it will be time for my trusty beta readers to take a look and tell me what they think. They have read all the series so far, so they should have a good idea of whether I’m still hitting the mark with these stories.
Based on their reaction, I will re-write it as necessary and send it back for a final edit.
After all that, it will be publication time. At the moment, that’s looking like May 2025.
Meanwhile, I have to catch up with everything else that I’ve neglected.
More about that soon.
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Darlene Foster
Well done, you!!
Richard Dee
Thanks, I really enjoyed this years challenge.