The Writings on the Wall #43

Spies, dragons, and bones

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Hey everyone!

I actually have a lot of news today.

First off, I got more words done in April (28,178) and should do even more this month, so I’m pretty happy about this.

One thing I did that seems to help a lot is that I made a planning for the months to come (years, even) with all the stuff I want to write. I’d never thought of doing something like this. I only had a list of ongoing projects and some notes about what I’d like to do next. Nothing quite as organized as this. I suspect it will help me focus a lot more. Seems to be working well so far, as I wrote three short stories last month and the first three chapters of a new novel.

Now, that’s the other big news. Remember how I was planning to write a murder mystery series? Well, that has shifted toward a spy series instead. I had an idea that I found much more exciting and that excitement hasn’t dampened since, quite the opposite. I already have enough ideas for this one to write over thirty novels, and I’m not even kidding! In addition to those three chapters, I’ve written a lot more material, bits and pieces that will appear in other books in the series.

But here’s the thing. I’m still not sure how much about this project I should share here. Because it’s a huge shift for me. Not only in genre, but also in style/tone/voice. These books will even include some steamy scenes, which is not something I’ve ever done before. I’ll definitely be writing these under a pen name. So while I’m excited about the project and would love to talk about it more, I’m also nervous about sharing it with you guys.

Just out of curiosity, how many of you would be into something like this? Namely, a female James Bond with steamy scenes, tons of action and humor (think sarcasm and black humor), and some pretty outrageous/outlandish sequences here and there (without ever going into Sci-Fi/Fantasy territory). Does that sound like something you’d enjoy reading?

In other news, I’ll soon start writing the first novel in that Dragon Dice trilogy I’ve mentioned before. The plan is to work on that this month, then focus on the spy books in June. I’ll be writing more short stories as well, of course.

Oh! And speaking of short stories…

Coming up this month

That’s right! Since I’m starting to have a buffer of stories to work with again, I’m bringing this section back from the dead.

So what do I have in store for you? Only one story, I’m afraid, and I’ll have to stick to this rhythm until I have a bigger buffer to work with. But here’s what you can expect:

• May 21 — “The Bank of Bones” is the story of a couple who bought a manor but find their new home lacking—to put it mildly. I’d call this dark fantasy, perhaps even horror, to an extent.

And… I believe that’s it for now!

Hope you all have a lovely day.

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Copyright (c) 2025 by Alex S. Garcia.