The Muffler's Misery: Part 3 Complete

You want to know how it's going? Very well, I must say.

When we moved into the house, the previous occupants had freshly painted everything magnolia. Now I'm on my own, I decided it was about time I put my own stamp on the place. Having exhausted the affordable options on the home automation front ("Alexa, close all curtains and blinds"), it was time to paint a few walls.

So I'm sitting here looking at a striking teal feature wall in my study. The chimney breast in the lounge now glows blood orange. Next, I'll continue the fruity theme with a banana split wall in both the hallway and my main bedroom, closely followed by berry smoothie in the spare bedroom.

What's that? You meant how is The Muffler's Misery going? Oh, sorry. Luckily, that's just as well, although slightly less fruitily.

Part three, The Father, is now complete. It was slightly longer than anticipated, so I slipped in an extra chapter. It now comprises Solution, Expedition, Reunion, and Resolution, coming in at 15,500 words, giving me a total of 47,500 so far.

Part one was from Tia's perspective, part two from Rowan's and part three gave them two chapters each. Part four will follow precisely the same structure as part three. It's now called The Butcher and will consist of Constitution, Communication, Election, and Revelation.

This will set me up nicely for the finale in part five, The Muffler. I know exactly how that part will end, but there are several ways the start could go. I'm sure it will be clear when I get there. The Butcher will show the way.

I think parts four and five will be slightly shorter, although I said that about part three. We shall see. I anticipate the novel's first draft will be the shortest of the trilogy, somewhere between 75,000 to 80,000 words.

There's only one way to find out. Part four beckons, but first... the hallway wants some banana split.