Another BTL Spinoff

On By TomIn Achievement, author honesty, author ideas, beta readers, editing, General, Insight, killing your darlings, Novel, reading, series, thriller, trilogy, work in progress, writing2 Comments

When I started work on MacLennan, it was intended to be a standalone story, but once underway, I recalled how many times readers had mentioned their favourite characters from my Beyond The Law (BTL) trilogy and spinoff tales, Codename: Nightshade, and Codename: Foxglove. I introduced one person to spice up a few scenes, and as these things do, it led to bringing in someone else from the vigilante team, and the new retribution story took on a life of its own.

As I do with all my work, when the initial tale was told, I saved it and left it aside for three weeks before printing it to revise as a hard copy. Armed with a trusty red pen, fuelled with copious amounts of coffee, and with classical music in the background, I deleted, inserted, and amended from the first page to the last. It took four days, which was no surprise, and then I saved it and left it alone again. During the ‘rest’ periods for a manuscript, to avoid being drawn into the story, if an idea comes to mind, I make a brief note at the end of my story info file.

Like many authors, I also edit as I write, and might occasionally spend an entire day on three or four chapters, chopping and changing imagery, dialogue and narrative until the flow feels right. Editing, ‘on the hoof’ isn’t the way to produce the best work, but it goes some way to creating a good foundation.

Due to always having more than one Work in Progress, I find it easy, rather than frustrating, to leave a manuscript aside. During the year I spent on the initial draft, I took a short break from MacLennan more than once and worked on something else.

It was only after sending the story to beta readers that I revisited the cover and decided to rename the tale Codename: MacLennan. I felt that there was so much involvement by my original vigilante team that it was appropriate to make this story another spinoff from the BTL trilogy.

Codename: MacLennan is scheduled to be published by the end of March 2026.

A by-product of this new story is yet another spinoff in the form of Codename: Larkspur, which I will start work on in April of this year.

 I sincerely thank my regular readers for taking an interest and supporting my brand. If you’re new to my writing, I hope you’ll soon become one of my valued readers. Thank you for checking out my blog.

My Writing Year – 2026

On By TomIn Achievement, author honesty, author ideas, beta readers, collections, editing, General, Insight, killing your darlings, Novel, reading, relaxation, self-publishing, series, thriller, work in progress, writing

My new writing year saw me focusing on a hard-copy edit of MacLennan. This new story features a male vigilante-style character loosely based on the lead in my short story, Resettlement, which appears in my anthology, Shadow: and Other Stories. It was fellow author, Barbara Speake who suggested that the theme of the Resettlement story would work well in a longer form.

I expected that the initial manuscript of 118k words would be reduced during a thorough edit, but more than one scene developed which caused the word count to rise to 120k. In the next full edit which will take place in February, I’ll continue to develop, but cut where needed, simultaneously killing my ‘darlings’.

During the edit, I amended the opening chapter, which I believe is now more effective. The new version is available here on my blog if you’d like to select Chapter 1 – The Invisible Man.

As mentioned in a previous blog post, Helen, initially a minor player, has now earned her place in a future story and will feature in her own book, Codename: Larkspur.

What else have I got lined up to work on this year?

Selena: Sea Nymph has been a work in progress over the past couple of years, and I’ll continue the job this year. I don’t rush a story, so like some others before it, this one may continue to simmer on the back-burner as I continue with other projects.

As a non-swimmer and, therefore, someone who’s never been keen on waterspouts or travel by boat, I will be literally out of my depth in some parts of the story. In my favour, many years ago I attended a two-week swimming course, so I’m not without experience when it comes to spending time underwater. My imagination, coupled with a lifelong interest in natural history and a nod to conservation, will play their parts in the storytelling.

As is my habit with my Work in Progress files, I’ll work on A Life of Choice: The Retail Years when the other two stories are resting between drafts. This story stems from the idea that we relate anecdotes and say things like, ‘I could write a book about it.’ It was as recently as November 2024 when I decided I’d aim to do that. I chose the title to fit with A Life of Choice, my five-book series loosely based on my military career. As with my military memoirs, I’ll be in no rush with this story, but I foresee it as a single volume in a different format to the series. When I eventually have something to offer for feedback, I’ll post a chapter here on my blog.

I will, as usual, offer my services as a beta-reader to fellow authors whenever time and my productivity allow.

I sincerely thank my regular readers for choosing and supporting my brand. If you’re new to my writing, I hope you’ll soon become one of my valued readers.

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