The Gods in Haven: Part Three First Draft Complete

That's better. Part three of The Gods in Haven flew past. I didn't lose momentum! Whether that will hold for the rest of the book is a different matter, especially now the sun's out. We'll see.

At the start, this was the section I was most concerned about. Although it had a purpose, there was a danger of my characters treading water as things happened around them. Quite the opposite happened in the writing. Anjuna, and particularly Chandra, became central to the events. That was rather satisfying.

Even better, the shape of the remaining story firmed up nicely. I always knew how it would end, but now the route to that end emerges naturally from the motivations of the primary characters. Unfortunately, it means that someone's going to die soon. Ah well.

As I expected in the last blog post, I've renamed the five parts to fit better with the chapter names:

• Source of Laughter

• Signs of Life

• Tides of History

• Flight of Fancy

• Time of reckoning

Part three ended up at 22,400 words, spread over the expected six chapters, although some were renamed:

• Quote the Maven

• Artefact Artifice

• Heist Takes

• Fate's Accomplice

• Dred Reckoning

• The End of History

Overall, that gives 62,400 words up to this point. That's now given me enough clarity to plan out the rest of the novel. The last two parts will have four chapters each, with those in the next part being:

• Science Friction

• Mission Creep

• The Shadow of the Cliff

• Mourning Has Broken

Although I'm keen to crack on and get this finished, I've a list of jobs to do in the back garden that I must get done when the weather's good. Exciting stuff, like cleaning and staining the decking, treating all the garden furniture, planting a few pots in a new display area I'm putting together, and maybe staining the fences too. First, I need to repair and paint the rotting shed door. Somehow.

I'll be back.