Back in January, with my part of Glencrow Summer done, save for the corrections as they came in, I turned my attention to my next writing project, my "Project 2027" i.e. my book for 2027 in my one-book-a-year plan. However, since I like to make hay while the sun shines, I, with something of a story in mind, sat down and started writing the first draft of my next book, The Darval-Mers Dossier. (Working title.)
So what is The Darval-Mers Dossier all about, you ask? (I hope.) Well, when, after finishing Chateau Clare, I said I wanted to write another story set in that world, one of my beta readers suggested that I write a "Red Wine Agency" story. Readers of Chateau Clare may recall a fictional series of books of intrigue of that name, which were set in the revolutionary period leading to the Second Founding. These Red Wine Agency books played a key part in that story. So when he suggested I write my own Red Wine Agency story, I thought, why not? Though, I will admit I put off tackling it until I finished the story I had already in mind, which came to be Glencrow Summer, also set in that world.
However, with Glencrow Summer written, save for corrections, I turned my attention to a story about Mr Redinal Wine. It quickly became clear to me that the type of story described in my book, was not the type of stories I write, unless there is there such a thing as "cozy thrillers. I found the prospect of writing a secret agent/detective story set in the cutthroat struggle between the Great House of Lorria rather daunting. Not being a reader of thrillers, I doubted that I could live up to their standard. And then, well there's my laziness. While I had built up the world for Chateau Clare and Glencrow Summer, a Red Wine Agency story needed to be set in a much earlier time period to be consistent with its appearance in Chateau Clare. This era was one were advanced technology was still being used, if slowly dying out. In short, a semi-new world to develop. Plus I would have to come with a backstory for Mr Wine to place him in the world and his trade. There had to be an easier way.
What I hit upon was to write a "prequel" to the main Red Wine Agency stories, a story set before Mr Wine became heavily involved in all the intrigues of that period. It would serve as the backstory for the character and his introduction to that trade. I also decided to write it in the form of an old fashioned mystery story, with the main character, i.e. the proto-Mr Wine acting like an amateur detective, who, following clues, solves the mystery. It even would have the classic who-done-it style exposition at the climax, though it's not a murder mystery. I don't do murder. Having decided on the form, and having come up with a fairly straight forward story, I started writing it on 6 January 2025 and finished the first draft of 48,014 words on 10 March. That's 63 days, or around 762 words per day on average. I usually average a bit over 1,000 words a day, but I didn't have a looming deadline, and I was working out a lot of things on the fly.
Now, 48K words is not a long book. My second drafts usually add around 10%+ more words as I add the descriptions I skimped on, and expand dialog and such, so its final world count could be close to the wordcount of The Prisoner of Cimlye which is 53K+ words. I think is fine, since Agatha Christie has said that the best word count for a mystery novel is between 40K and 50K. I'm happy go along with the master on this one.
Given that I have a first draft in hand, I believe that, unless life and/or death get in the way, I'll be able to release it before 2027. I'll put this on the shelf for maybe a month before tackling the second and third drafts. Given the shortness of this story, a month of revisions should do, after which there is proof and beta readings, and coming up with the cover art. Still, I'm looking to release The Darval-Mers Dossier a few years early; hopefully in June or July 2025. Between now and then, I will be providing more details about this story. Stay tuned.
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