I’m beginning to ramp up for the next novel, to be written during NaNoWriMo 2023 this November. I’ve already decided it will be Vasily story, since the last one (Solitude) was for Sean; I like bouncing back and forth between the characters so they remain top-of-mind for me. Often if I write two stories back to back for one of them, I sometimes find it hard to shift out of the mindset of the first and into the persona of the second — though there have been times when I’ve been on a role with a particular plot point, and writing two stories consecutively allows me to flesh out that story more fully.
There are all sorts of threads in the Vasily universe that I want to work with, not including the dastardly case I plan on dumping upon him; it will take place just a bit after the events in Mirage, which means I can do an October-based setting in Southern California. I’ve gotten close to that in prior books, but this one will finally let me lean into what fall is like along the Pacific. And, of course, it also opens the possibility of having a Halloween-themed event, one that Vasily might use to embarrass the heck out of his soulmate. Now that I think about it, Rosie’s mansion would make a fine haunted house, don’t you think…? 🤔
The mystery part of the story seems to have been inspired by something my brother said to me a while back. I forget the context — which is probably wise — but he said something along the lines of they’ve got to find the body first. That shot straight to my writing brain, and I’ve been toying with how to work that concept into the overarching story ever since. I usually lead with the murder in each of my novels, though I broke with that in Solitude for reasons that suited the plot. Having Vas in a situation where something could have happened but it’s up to him to piece together actual facts to prove it did seems strangely appealing and a nice change of pace from what I’ve done in the past. It’s early days, so we’ll see what I ultimately land on (though this is certainly a front-runner at the moment).
Requiem is another book where a key phrase inspired much of the plot. A friend and I were talking about growing up in the 1970s, and he made the comment that he was glad we were no longer part of the disco era. Suddenly I had visions of wide lapels, loud shirts and bell-bottoms — and the idea for a core part of the mystery that Vasily is thrust into solving. I never really know how this inspiration thing will strike me, but I’ve also been a writer long enough to sense I’ve stumbled upon something that needs to be written down and followed up on later. My iPhone is full of little notes for just that reason — ideas that I might use now or sometime in the future, things I just don’t want to lose. (Thankfully I have a large drive on my phone.)
As in the past, I’ll keep you up to date as I begin — and then work on — whatever my November project turns out to be. I’ll try not to spoil anything, but then again, knowing what’s coming later is kind of fun, isn’t it?