A brief foray into crime

I’ve had this idea gnawing at me for the past couple of months. It’s a series of crime novels, but with a bit of a genre twist (and no, before you ask, it’s not fantasy, and it’s got nothing to do with that dimension-dabbling detective I keep yakking on about). So far I’ve written outlines for the first three books but the one thing missing to make this thing properly pitchable (yes, it’s a real word) is the dreaded sample chapters.

If you’re a regular visitor here, you’ll know I’m currently deep in a dragon novel. The MS is around four-fifths done and it looks like there’s light at the end of the tunnel (although I’m rapidly approaching that peculiar stage of the process where everything I’ve written so far is beginning to stink like month-old manure).

But my agent is enthusiastic about this new idea. In fact, if I don’t deliver at least a few thousand words on the subject, I fear she may use spiked weaponry on me. So I’m putting the dragons on temporary hold while I turn, however briefly, to crime. Chapter one’s done. Another two and I’ll be able to keep those maces and flails at bay.

As for the manure problem, I plan to solve that by turning all the words over with a large pitchfork. It’s worked for me before.