Back in 2006, after Macmillan Publishers signed up The Secret War, I was asked what would I
write next? What followed was the kind of excited panic felt by a child in a
sweet shop surrounded by hundreds of different toffees, hard-boiled delights
and mallow sweetness, but then being told they had only a few minutes to choose one
or two before closing. It was a delight, but the pressure to decide on a path
for the Secret War was immense.
The original premise for the series was something around
12-18 books, going as far back as the beginning of mankind and ending with the
last battle between Heaven and Hell. But after watching other authors being saddled with a long series by their publishers - asked to
churn out an ever decreasing quality of work - I had my concerns. These
concerns were founded later on, but my initial reaction was to hang the series
and just do three books. I could get what I wanted out of a trilogy if it was
done my way, so that seemed the sensible route.
What I came up with was The
Hoard of Mhorrer and then The Fortress of Black Glass. While I was
pleased with The Hoard of Mhorrer it
missed five years of William Saxon's story that needed to be told - story that
was only hinted at in Hoard. I soon
regretted this the moment that I was asked to edit out a whole sub-plot and one
that was key to the entire series. I had been so eager to
wrap up the books in three pieces, that I had missed the point, as had the publisher - the series
needed to be longer.
When it came to writing the next book, The Fortress of
Black Glass, I had to deal with that excised sub-plot for it to work. The sub-plot therefore became a book in itself. So the amended series now included The Traitor of Light - an intermission devoted to the Dar'uka; but
Macmillan wanted only William Saxon stories, and this was also shelved.
So in trueHollywood
style, I embarked on a third book that I wasn't prepared to write, with a plot that
would not make sense (because such a big part would be left unexplained) and
with my confidence in myself and my publisher diminishing.
So in true
It was inevitable that I would leave Macmillan, perhaps the
moment I was asked to change The Hoard of
Mhorrer, or perhaps earlier than that. Maybe it was the moment I was asked
what I would follow The Secret War
with and I gabbled out that it would be a story set five years later. Maybe that was the moment my relationship with
Macmillan was doomed.
Six years on, and I have a chance to rectify the mistake.
Two weeks ago I started writing the first draft of The Blood on the Seine . It's the book I should have written in
2007, and is - chronologically - book 2 of the Secret War series. It takes
place mere months after the events of the first book, is set in occupied Paris
in 1815, and is very much a Gothic piece, but with the similar action and
adventure of the first book.
But it is a pebble
being tossed into a pond with regards the rest of the series. With The Blood on the Seine becoming book 2 -
and there will now be at least three books after that - The Hoard of Mhorrer becomes book 6 with The Traitor of Light and The
Fortress of Black Glass becoming book
7 and 8 respectively.
This doesn't mean the whole series is being changed. Readers
of The Hoard of Mhorrer aren't
missing out, they're just being treated to the previous five years of adventure
concerning William Saxon and co. These five books will set up the events in The
Hoard of Mhorrer nicely (for example, there's more about the Rassis Cult) and
will explain events in The Traitor of
Light and finally The Fortress of
Black Glass. It's a longer series, yes, but one that will be worthwhile to
write, and I hope, read.
~
This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't regained the freedom
to write. The Secret War books have a new home - Thirst eDition Fiction, a
self-publishing venture that was started by several like-minded commercial
authors. Book 1 - The Secret War - is
being reissued by them later this month as a revised edition with a few tweaks
to the writing.
It kicks off a renewed interest in a project that I thought
might die because of the problems I've had along the way. It felt like leaving
a folly half-completed, to lay in ruins; now I get to tear down some of the
walls and build a better story, the decision-making driven by the architect
rather than an accountant.
As with other self-published books - the Secret War series
might be picked up by a commercial publisher in the future, but if it does,
then the publisher will have a series that has been better thought out; by a
writer who will be more bullish with regard his vision; a writer who has more
experience about dealing with publishers and will not be swayed so easily by
promises.
After all, it's the books that come first. That and the
people who read them.
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