2013 Writing Plans

It's high time I got back in the saddle. I've had a nice long break from writing, and I'm not ashamed to say I've enjoyed it.

But I've been feeling the itch. This year will see the release of my second novel, the sequel to Locked Within. Nathan Shepherd's story continues as we see him battle an enemy who knows him better than he could imagine. It's going to be fun getting stuck into the edits on that one and I can't wait to start. It is tentatively titled Forgotten Cause, but that may well change during edits.

Almost as exciting, I've started plans for the third book in the series. The end of this trilogy is going to be an epic battle as Nathan fights to save not just New York, but the entire world. The working title for this book is Memory War, and I promise it'll be a finish worthy of the amazing enthusiasm I've seen in those who've read Locked Within. Seriously, the way people who've read Locked Within have been outright demanding the next one is utterly humbling. You guys rock.

But that's not all. As I've mentioned, the Memory Chronicles, Nathan's story, has been shortened from a 6-book series to a trilogy. So unless Memory War ends up being so long that we could get two successful books out of it instead of one, after that one is written I'll need to decide on a new project. I have several ideas in mind, all of which I'm excited about. These are all working titles only, of course:

• Nightfall - About a teenage boy who is cursed to turn into a monster whenever the sun goes down.
• A Different Cloth - An Irish Catholic priest who drinks too much, swears too much, and has broken his vow of celibacy at least once, hunts demons and sinister cults in his spare time.
• The Lady - A steampunk fantasy about a noblewoman who, after the death of her husband, falls from society's grace and is captured to be used as a ritual sacrifice. She escapes, but her daughter is murdered and so she embarks on a mission of vengeance.
• Apprentice - An urban fantasy in a world where magic is a part of everyday life and a modern day order of knights protect people from monsters. A juvenile criminal is sentenced to community service as the apprentice to the longest-serving of these knights.

As well as that, I'm also working on a story called The Secret Santa Club, about a group of teenagers who secretly arrange to have gifts delivered to families in need at Christmas time. The tricky part in all this is deciding what I should write next!

On Thursday I'll talk about my blogging and social media plans, with some hints at the kinds of topics I'll be discussing through the year.