Draft Complete (and other updates)

Yesterday, I reached the end of a first draft: the YA thriller that I started to develop in October last year. The 78,000 words are very much a ‘messy’ draft. While I’ve been writing, I’ve put together a list of things that need to be reworked, including aspects of plot and characterisation. I’ll be tackling these areas in the coming months, and it won’t be until that point that it will be ready to share with early readers.

With After Isla, I shared the first draft exclusively with my agent. I have yet to learn its fate, but it has been several months, and the more time passes, the more I’m steeling myself for rejection from the major publishing houses. With this new one, therefore, I’ll try a slightly different approach: gather feedback from a small group of readers, revise, and then share with my agent. I might be able to get the second draft to her at the start of 2026, and hopefully it will be a ‘tighter’ one that can go to editors at publishing houses more swiftly than After Isla.

September and October will be busy months. Alongside novel revision, I will be working for Fiction Express to publish a novella called Crash Course for their 12+ audience. I will also be back at the school doing reading intervention with small groups on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The school made my temporary contract permanent, and it makes sense to stay there while I’m developing my tutoring business. I have one tutee, but I need between five and ten to make quitting at the school a viable option (or to receive a book deal, of course!). Much like the new novel, my employment goals are very much works in progress!

In other news, my agent is now operating independently at Solas Literary Agency. My profile can be found here.

Blood of the Giants: Published Novella

My time with Fiction Express draws to a close. All five chapters are available for readers of the site.

It’s been a blast. One of the nicest things has been interacting with readers in the forum, which isn’t an experience I’ve had with my writing before (beyond receiving feedback to improve). Each week, I’ve posted topics for them to respond to (an opportunity for them to practice their English skills), which has involved them commenting on an element of that week’s chapter. For example, in the final week, I asked them what they thought happened in a conversation between two characters, which is alluded to in the last chapter but not shown. Many of the responses were fun to read, especially the ones where the students wrote out their own conversations, showing a great understanding of the characters! It’s been encouraging to know that readers have enjoyed the reading experience and to see how they have engaged with the story.

At some stage in the future, the novella may become available to purchase through Amazon. I’ll post a link in this blog if that does happen.

The big question for me now is what happens next. I’ve finished a draft of the YA novel that I’m sending to my agent later this month. When I receive her feedback, I will be moving into a stage of revision with that story. In the meantime, I’m outlining a couple of other ideas for Fiction Express. I would love to write for them again at some stage, although I know it won’t happen soon – they already have writers booked in for the next two half terms, meaning the earliest I could possibly write for them is in March. It’ll be back to Critique Circle in the short term with those projects, to hopefully get some feedback to make them attractive to the Fiction Express editors.

The reality of the tax year 2024-2025 is that I won’t earn enough from writing to cover my living costs. I’m not likely to be booked in for Fiction Express again, and the new novel, still in its rough first draft, is only at the beginning of a journey towards the editors at the big publishing houses – an advance is likely to be years away, if it happens at all. As such, I’ve applied for a part-time (ten hour) teaching assistant role this week. I’m hopeful that I can find a balance with a job like that which allows me to keep pushing forward with my writing projects.

The good thing about the Blood of the Giants novella is that it is my longest publication to date (at 12,500 words) so hopefully it is a sign that I’m moving in the right direction for the publication of a longer work. I’m grateful for the opportunity and for everything I’ve learned from the process.