Dr Connors went to the asylum in a shower of rain. He stepped in a puddle right up to his middle and then forgot all about it.
Alternatively, for a decade, I was writing a little book called Sin. You may have heard of it. It won one of those Watty award things last year. It wasn't always the best time for me. Sin was written in pieces – much like his life. He's essentially a part of me. As such, I was sort of stepping away those pieces as I wrote. I also produced many of the poems in Dark and Darker Places. If you've read them, I think you'll perhaps understand a little of what I was going through.
Still, you can't have the darkness without the light, that's what I always say. Well, I don't always say it, of course. Any conversations with me would be distinctly boring if that were the case. Not that I'm saying they're not, of course. I could easily be the most mind-numbingly tedious person on the face of the planet. I may possibly have the power to send you to sleep as soon I open my mouth - and I don't mean bad breath. Or, at least I hope I don't... Do I have a secret identity? Do I patrol the streets at night, a masked vigilante doing daring does for truth, justice and zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Sorry, where was I?
Oh yes. Writing Sin and stuff.
Well, during that time, I also worked on a couple of other projects. The first one was a little story about three witches. The second was the tail... I mean tale of a young snake. It was only last week, years later, that I realised they were part of the same story. Or intertwined, at least. If I wore a fancy costume, had superpowers and worked for Marvel, I'd say they were in the same Universe. And they are, even though I don't. Well, my superpower is that I can wiggle my ears, but I don't think that counts. And there's the boring bit, of course.
The snake is Norman. He's employed by the lovely Janice the witch as a Spellcatcher, collecting falling stars. The stars themselves contain fairies that Janice kills to steal their magic. Oh, perhaps she's not quite so lovely after all. Anywho-be-do. Janice lived on a little street called Shadowmoss Lane. Now, Shadowmoss Lane does actually exist. It's really a Road rather than a Lane, but I saw it on a map of Manchester when planning a route to the airport. I'd only been once previously, I think, and Google was a distant dream to any phone. But, the road name had stuck in my head and didn't want to shift. Cool name. Perfect for a witch, or witches, to live on.
I managed about 30,000 words of each story before Sin completely took over. Towards the end of his story (Sin's, that is), I was finally in the zone. I could see where it would go. How it might end. Other stories were not so much forgotten about, but were put to the back of my mind. When I finished SIn, so many more projects came my way. Writing for such movies as The Purge: Anarchy, Sinister II and Incarnate, for example. The myriad anthologies I was kindly invited to join. So many things.
When I finally revisited the world of Shadowmoss, I read the last section to see where I'd left it. I was very pleasantly surprised by what I found. I really liked what I'd written. I didn't, at the time, link them - the two stories. Yes, they were both YA and both had witches and the Lane, but still, they didn't click. A bit daft, that, don't you think?
Anyway. I really wanted to get back into the stories. My previous love for the characters resurfaced and I planned to get them finished. I started with Puddlebrain, but again other projects got in the way. Once they were out of the way, even though I am still working on Red Queen and And the Meek Shall Swim, I was determined. I had to get them done. It was a challenge I gave myself. And I rose to that challenge - at least as far as one of them is concerned so far!
And the result is Puddlebrain.
Puddlebrain is the youngest of three witches, each of whom has lost their powers. When a mysterious shadow begins abducting first the villagers and then her sisters, Puddlebrain has to enter the forbidden Grimace to discover the truth. Her only friend is Billy, the obnoxious gnome who plonked himself in their garden one day - think Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy.
That's the premise. The 'blurb'. The story, I hope, takes your hand, mounts that blurb and rides it through trips and turns and thrilling... erm... thrills of a spellbinding (see what I did? Witches! Spells!) story. When I'd finished writing and reread it, the first 30,000 words, I was expecting to edit masses. I thought I'd be altering huge swathes. I didn't, however. I made alterations and little tweaks. There's probably much that does need changing but, to me, it was spot on. I laughed with Billy and felt for Puddlebrain. I ground my teeth at Edna and I shook my head at Gemini.
For it to prompt such reactions in me, I took as a good sign. The reactions I've had, I take as a very good sign. I've had readers tell me it's hilarious. One even told me Puddlebrain was their favourite story of mine ever. I haven't told Sin. He might not take it well.
Now Puddlebrain is finished, I (in between the other books) will work on Norman. I know where I want the story to go, I just need to get it there. It's another book set in the same world with some crossover rather than a sequel, but it will still be Book Two of the Shadowmoss Chronicles. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy book one.
Oh, and thanks an absolute gazillion to @FinnyH for the stunning cover. He's one of my favourite people in the whole world and sooo talented.
If you've read Puddlebrain, drop a comment to let me know what you think.
GIVEAWAY ALERT!!
To celebrate me finishing Puddlebrain and her appearance on Wattpad, I'm giving away a signed paperback copy of the full book to one lucky winner! This is open internationally, so no matter where you live, you're eligible to win! Three other winners will have chapters dedicated to them. All winners will receive shout outs on my various social media channels. Don't forget to answer!
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