The Muffler's Misery: Part 1 Complete

Well, that zipped along nicely. It's probably the fastest start I've had in writing any of my novels. Yes, the first draft of part 1 of The Muffler's Misery, called The King, is now complete.

It's a particularly stark comparison to the opening of The Muffler's Mission a year ago, which was my slowest, and a painful experience to squeeze the words onto the page. Admittedly I was a little distracted by a marriage break-up followed immediately by a lockdown, leaving me feeling somewhat isolated after my first ever Christmas on my own, but still.

Once Mission got going, I really enjoyed the experience, and I think the start of this novel is a good indication that my recovery is complete. It also helps that I'm intimately familiar with the characters, so I don't need to work out how each will react to any situation. So far, there have only been two new named characters – George and Veronica Drake – one of whom only spoke a couple of lines.

Part 1 worked out roughly as I expected, comprising four chapters, although I did rename one of them: Recuperation, Apprehension, Succession, Coronation. Along with the 1000-word Prelude, I'm now 17,000 words into the novel. A decent start.

I've also planned part 2, now called The Minister. This swaps back to Rowan's perspective, having opened the novel from Tia's viewpoint. I'm expecting this to also be four chapters:

• Preparation

• Proposition

• Infiltration

• Insurrection

Right. Let's get on with it.