I've reached my last lock and 50,084 words - the official NaNoWriMo target is 50,000, but I started with about 8,500 under my belt so my personal target has to be around 60,000. In reality, I may need a few thousand more to finish the story and to allow for some loss of 'flab' during editing, though it's equally likely that will add the odd scene or sentence, as I found when I revisited the opening chapters.
Taking on an unfamiliar genre has been interesting. I have to confess I haven't read a 'whodunit' for years (unless Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban counts - which it should). I don't tend to get into modern crime-based films or serials either, most of which are far too bloody, grim and depressing for my taste, often with a unrealisticly high body count, disproportionately of women. I could hand out a proper Daphnesque rant on the subject, but I'll leave her to redress the balance in her own words and her own way. Suffice to say 'Grand Union' isn't entirely bloodless, but neither is it graphic or gratuitous when things turn nasty.
I'm hoping that the puzzle-solving element keeps the reader interested rather than morbid fascination, with gory death. I'm having fun sprinkling 'red herrings' though I'll need to check carefully for consistency and continuity issues on the re-read and ideally lay out my Waterways map and move some model boats about on it to make sure nobody has made impossible progress for plot purposes.
I hope readers will also enjoy the central characters' curious relationship and their journey. Although the sinister possibilities of canals play a role, for the most part the boating episodes inject light and landscape into our tale of crime and corruption.
Talking of journeys, I must get back to the closing stages of Daphne's - there are only two weeks to go before we reach the finishing line!
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