My time was running wild

You could write it off to my move back to Tennessee, I suppose. After all, it was a logical progression: I bought a Victorian house, I settled in to a historic neighborhood ... and I started itching to write a haunted house story.

Coincidentally, last month I began work on my next contracted project and realized that (a). the idea/material isn't nearly as strong as I'd originally thought, and (b). it's not a haunted house story. Both of these things made me sad.

So I had a chat with my editor, who is awesome.
And then...with her help and blessing...plans changed.

To sum up in a less cryptic fashion: Contrary to previous announcements, my next book with Tor will be a haunted house story called The Family Plot. So let the record reflect!*

I got it underway today - and at the risk of saying something corny, it feels like coming home. Check out the first word metrics below. [:: ahem ::]


So here's today's progress on my modern gothic ghost story about a salvage crew trapped in a doomed southern mansion - now with a crunchy murder ballad center and Bonus! clandestine cemetery where the stones don't match the bodies (and were never meant to). As inspired by a (semi)true local legend:
Project: The Family Plot
Deadline: January 15, 2015
New words written: 1951 (not bad, for starters)
Present total word count: 1951



Things accomplished in fiction: Meet Chuck Dutton, owner of Music City Salvage in Nashville. He's just been granted salvage rights to the old Withrow Estate, and that's totally going to go well for him. I'm pretty sure.

Things accomplished in real life: Neighborhood jaunt with dog; inbox: zero; cooked a big lunch; finished up some laundry; played catch-up vis-a-vis yesterday, when a dog derailed my work day and other plans; prepared to draw up some sample content on another project, but didn't quite get to writing on it yet.

Other: The other project mentioned above is a YA thing which might or might not happen - but it definitely won't get off the ground unless I can give the editor the couple of chapters she requested. I'll try to squeeze that material out in the evenings, but won't be adding it to the word count below [total for the year] until I know it's going anywhere. For superstitious reasons, that's why.

Number of fiction words so far this year: 153,037


And just like that, The Family Plot is officially underway! I am relieved, proud, and delighted - and I can't wait to share this one with readers next year. It's the kind of thing I've been dying to work on for ages, and I can't believe I'm finally getting the chance!

[:: happydance ::]

In other news, once again, thanks to everyone leaving Maplecroft reviews here, there, and everywhere. I appreciate it more than I can say, and it helps more than you know; so if you've been reading, and if you like what you find, then please take a moment to tell the world!
Maplecroft at Amazon
Maplecroft on Kindle
Maplecroft at iTunes
Maplecroft at B&N (Nook and trade paperback)
Maplecroft at your local bookseller via IndieBound




* Though I do plan to recycle the original project's title [Godbothering] for 2016's release. It never quite fit the project in question, I fear - but I've found a better one, much closer to the heart of it. I'm looking forward to doing that one, too.