So technically, if we’re counting every single novel I’ve ever finished (novel being anything over 30,000 words, finished being the story is concluded), I just finished my 8th! Now, if we’re defining finished novel as “a story over 45,000 words that is concluded even if more editing is required that is actually good”, I just finished my fifth novel, but still. I’m twenty years old and I’ve written between five and eight novels, six of which are over 50,000 words. That’s pretty freaking cool.
This most recent book is the third in a series that I didn’t even intend on creating. The first book, Addicted, I wrote back when I was sixteen, then I was so enamored with the universe I’d created I wrote a second, almost companion novel called The Secret Wife. Then I realized that I was in no way done with the characters or the universe, so back in 2009, I decided to try my hand at a third book, successfully combining the three stories into a solid trilogy.
Addicted, for those of you who don’t really remember, follows 19-year-old Blair Hunter on a spy mission for the UMA, or the Undercover Missions Agency, into the mysterious life of software tycoon Eric Hallow, who recently (and suspiciously) got into the frozen foods business. Blair must fight her own demons as well as this new one to get to the bottom of things and save the world.
The Secret Wife, written about 8 months after the completion of Addicted, follows 21-year-old Allyson Ashland, who grew up as a UMA agent after her parents abandoned her. After a botched mission at age eleven, the UMA believed her to be dead, but when the man they believed killed her resurfaces in the crime world, she’s their only hope. Reluctantly, Ally and her old partner Micah must take down crime lord Clay Dawson before it’s too late.
And now (drum roll please), Scourge! The third in the epic UMA trilogy (although I’m working up a concept for a fourth) follows both Ally, Blair, and new character Camden, a 17-year-old juvenile delinquent caught in the middle of a major political conspiracy. This book is told from all three perspectives and we see the surprising return of a villain from one of the first two books. Ally and Blair must learn to put aside their differences with each other and Camden must acclimate to a world of spies and traitors and choose which side she’s on before she gets herself killed.
This book was so much freaking fun to write. Not only did I get to reexamine and rediscover my beloved characters from the first two books, but I also got to put them all in one room and let them fight it out. I didn’t realize how different they all were before they had to interact with one another, and now I love them more than ever. We’ve all kind of grown up together, and even if these stories don’t get past my computer’s hard drive, I’ll always remember them.
Anyways, now my task, before I let myself write anything new (which I’m known to do once I finish a project, in an attempt to not have to edit), I have to finish editing the first two books, Addicted and The Secret Wife, because I want all three books to be at the same level of competency. Remember, I wrote the first two during high school at very strange and dark points in my life. Also a lot of the stuff I wrote in them doesn’t make much sense anymore.
I just wanted to share that with you, because I’m super excited to have finished, finally. This book was kind of on hold for about a year and a half. I wrote the first 22 pages and then had absolutely no idea where to go next, but then this summer, I started planning stuff out and finally got a grasp on where I wanted to take it. Ever since the summer, I’ve been writing up a storm, and after another couple months break, I finally finished it. See you Monday!
