I finished the first draft of the first book of the new series today. Just 8 days -- that's a record for me!!! But, having said that, I almost always fly through first drafts -- I don't believe in dragging out the process. I think you're better off to get through the story as quickly as you can first time round. Once the bones of it are down on paper, you can crack on with the the re-writing and editing process, and spend as much time on it as you need to get it right. There are already some things I want to change about the book, a few structural tweaks I became aware that it needed while I was working on the first draft. But rather than stop, go back, and work on those points now, I pushed ahead and finished. I'll see to them next time round. The problem with side-tracking yourself midway through a novel is that you might lose focus, and lose sight of where you're heading. Many a writer has come unstuck by pausing to fix something in an early chapter -- they spend so much time working on an element of the book, that they lose touch with the overall aim of it, and end up never completing it.

For the most part I'm pretty pleased withe first draft, even though I know there's lots still to do with it. In an odd way I feel a bit guilty that it's short and fairly straightforward in terms of narrative. My last few books (the fantasy novel and the four book series) have all been longer, very involved stories, not quite as pacy as my vampire or demon books. I'm very proud of those, as I think I've taken my story-telling skill forward with them. But this series is all about FUN!! Dark, twisted, bloodstained fun, of course -- the first book has one of the highest body counts of any book of mine, if not THE highest!!! But fun all the same. I need to do something different to the books that I've worked on in recent years, something speedy and, to a large extent, throwaway -- the series WILL explore all sorts of serious issues, and go in some very grim directions, but I want it to grow and build up to the more involved stuff. The first book is all about the adrenaline rush!!! I always think it's good to have a varied creative balance, to try different things, to not be afraid to go on a soul-searching, deeply personal quest with a story -- but also not be afraid to just let your hair down on other occasions and set out to rock your readers' socks!!! And the new series is definitely of the full-on rock-socking kind!!!!!!

I received the following, very sweet email yesterday:

My name is Shawna Helt and I am a parent of a 14-year-old boy living just outside of Kansas City, Missouri (USA).  I have been trying to encourage my son to read since birth, but he never developed an interest.  I always dreaded the times he had to read a book for Language Arts because it was a constant battle, and most of the time I had to read the book with him or for him to get him through it. 

Then last spring, he had to pick out a book for class from the school library. Typically, he would blindly pick something and it would end up in his locker until it was due back.  On this particular day, he picked  "Cirque Du Freak - The Vampire's Assistant" because he thought the cover looked "cool".  He or I did not know that it would change his life!  He brought the book to class and ended up reading it entirely within a few days, without my help or knowledge.  Then he got the next book and so on.  It's been a year now, and he has read and bought the entire series and is re-reading them for his Accelerated Reading tests.  He is getting an A in that class now, which never happened before! 

This past year, he's been begging ME to read the first book, and used reverse psychology on me with my own words.  He told me to try the first 30 pages and if I didn't like it, I didn't have to finish it.  How could I say no to that without guilt?  (That's the same technique I used to use to persuade him.)  So I started reading, and next thing I knew, I had the book finished in a couple of hours (which seemed like only a couple of minutes).  I'm now starting on "Tunnels of Blood".

I wanted to thank you for your excellent writing skills, and for encouraging my son to find an interest in something that doesn't require a mouse or a joystick.  I helped my fiancée Jon Davies write a non-fiction children's book about storm chasing ("Storm Chasers! On the Trail of Twisters"), and we do presentations at schools to try and encourage kids to develop an interest in Science and Meteorology.  We receive notes from parents thanking us for our work, so I thought I'd pay it forward to do the same for you.

Awwww ... I love getting emails like that!!! I was also fascinated by Shawna and Jon's storm chasing adventures -- that sounds like some seriously scary fun!!! You can learn more about their book, and order a copy, by clicking here: http://onthetrailoftwisters.com/