Today is the blog blitz for House of Thieves by Rachel Walkley and I am sharing a Guest Post! Rachel answers the question that can be asked: “Are you a pantser or a plotter?” **If you don’t even know what a ‘pantser’ is, then be sure to read what her answer is.  House of Thieves was released yesterday!

Book Description:

At Terrington Hall, objects are treasured while people are forgotten.

Chief conservator Amy is restoring the Hurly family’s guilt-stained hoard when a theft forces her to hire Harrison, a security adviser on a personal quest to uncover his own history.

Unknown to anyone, an invisible presence woven into the fabric of the house watches their every move.

When Harrison uncovers a room sealed for decades, the investigation shifts from simple theft to the resurrection of murderous secrets. In a house where the past is too heavy to escape, the dead don’t need bodies to tell their stories — they just need someone to listen.

One house. Two mysteries. Two centuries apart.

Buy Your Copy Here:
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Rachel Answers the Question:
Are You a Pantser or Plotter?

Am I a pantser or a plotter?  This is a question that writers often ask each other.

A pantser flies by the seat of the pants and just writes, rather than plan every stage, and in some cases, they’ll have no clue where they might be going with the story. A plotter is the opposite style. A plotter might use software to help craft a detailed story or stick post-its on a board, fill folders with world building notes or research the perfect realistic backdrop for their tale.

Where am I? I think I’m in the middle somewhere, because it seems regardless of what I plan at the beginning, I end up flying by the seat of my pants.

With my new book, House of Thieves, the initial idea, call it a seed, was the house. My first book, The Women of Heachley Hall, was also built around a semi-abandoned house, mostly empty and barely habitable, and it became a key part of the story. Terrington Hall is crucial to the story, although it’s filled to the brim with precious objects, a long family history, and not so pleasant secrets.

Originally there was no ghost. I had created a rough outline some years ago, before I took a break from writing. There was a supernatural aspect to the plotline, but it was nothing like the story that eventually evolved because, unfortunately, it had flaws. When I returned last year to the original concept, I realised my seed had to be completed resown with a new plot, but what?

I went back to the house “seed”, and planted a different set of roots, my first few chapters grew into something more promising, a substantial looking sapling. However, I hit a wall, and once again, I was in danger of grinding to a halt. Then I had an eureka moment that transformed my plan. The ghost may be invisible to those in the house, but a reader is in a privileged position. Their advantage is to read a book narrated by an unseen ghost and “watch” through their eyes as other characters in the story solve a mystery.

My freshly grown branches, those opening chapters, were rewritten. So far my plan, a detailed outline, was undergoing a constant stream of edits.

Another important aspect of writing this book was ensuring the backstory, the historical aspect, was locked in early on in the process. There’s nothing worse than creating a rod for your back by not aligning two timelines correctly. I had to create family trees going back centuries, character profiles and floor plans. The plotter was back in the game. Until… yep, I realised the end of the book, no spoilers here, wouldn’t work if I didn’t introduce additional reveals into earlier chapters. Again, the pantser had to fly and make corrections and the outline was relegated to the wastepaper bin.

(Thank goodness for writing tools. I use Scrivener, which makes it easy to navigate a manuscript and keep track of where the changes are happening.)

Then, after the first draft was completed, my editor stepped in with suggestions and once again it was time for a revision, although fortunately nothing too major. But this is what writing is all about; a seemingly never-ending ebb and flow of revisions, overcoming obstacles and fine-tuning the manuscript. Crucially, writing is about taking something that was a simple concept and turning it into a novel that has structure and pace. It’s not easy, and I learn new techniques with every book I write. It’s an ongoing educational experience, which is what I love best about writing as a skill.

Now my seed is full grown tree and will hopefully bear fruit with happy readers.

Publishing a book is primarily a goal that encourages me to push on to a complete a novel, what really motivates me is starting a new project with a fresh seed and watching it grow into something that I may or may not have planned. I’ve already started a new outline – let’s see how much of it survives in the coming months.

About the Author:

Rachel Walkley is a former librarian and scientist who lives in the North West of England, where she spends her spare time making music and writing. Her debut novel, The Women of Heachley Hall, was a bestseller in the UK and Australia. Known for weaving together family secrets, magical mysteries, old houses and inspirational women, Rachel also writes gripping female-led crime novels under the pen name Rae Shaw.

Contact Rachel:
Website
Linktree to everywhere she is online!