Over the weekend, Cole Blackwater emerged more fully into the light.

Cole is the reluctant protagonist of a work in progress, simply titled Blackwater. This book, in the works for a couple of years, but really the subject of my writing since Carry Tiger to Mountain was released at the end of April, is a environmental murder mystery.

Cole took one more step closer to publication as Kathleen – my partner and editor – completed her first full review of the manuscript. I’ve now incorporated all of her feedback into my draft of the book, and will give it a final review before presenting it to a literary agent in the coming weeks.

The book now stands at 409 pages in length, with 119,000 words.

I feel really good about it. I like the pacing, and the characters are developing nicely. Some, as Kat has pointed out, are a little one-dimensional, so some work remains there. And I need to dress up some of the writing in places where it remains flat. But in general I feel strongly that Blackwater is a solid book. I only hope those in the publishing industry feel the same.

But beyond anything else, I feel like this book has deepened my passion for writing. It has been so much fun to pen this mystery, and to weave in the work that I have done for the last 18 years.

So now what? Well, print the novel, and read it cover to cover.

And then, start on the second Blackwater mystery, tentatively called The Darkening Archipelago. I have five or six more ideas for stories in my head, which adds up to months and months and months of more delicious writing.