News, The Moreau Witches

The Moreau Witches, A Novel: The Half-Way Mark

by Alexis Chateau
Madeleine Moreau, Witches, paranormal fiction

On Valentine’s Day, I announced that I was turning The Moreau Witches short story series, into a full-length novel. The plan was to keep it short, at just 50,000 to 60,000 words. And as of Tuesday night, I crossed the 25,000-word threshold — putting me just beyond the half mark.

If truth be told though, at 26,804 words in, I’ve only just begun to use and edit excerpts from the original series. This just might mean 60,000 words is not enough to contain the full story, as it continues to unfold. But we shall see!

I’ve felt more inspired working on this novel than I have in a very long time. I’ve been burning down plantations, toying with vodoo, inciting scandal, and navigating the uncertainty faced by the nobility in post-revolutionary France.

Boredom is a long way off for me, and I hope when the book is finished, it captivates your attention as it has for me, so far.

There are other developments related to the publishing and printing of the novel that are also in the works, but all will be revealed in their own time.

For regular — almost daily updates — on the novel’s progression, you can also follow this thread or the #MoreauWitches hashtag on Twitter. I’ve included some of the highlights below.

Thanks again to everyone who continues to cheer me on, on my writing journey. The witches are forever grateful for your encouragement.

UPDATE: Get the published copy here on Amazon!

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Alexis Chateau
Activist. Writer. Explorer.

30 thoughts on “The Moreau Witches, A Novel: The Half-Way Mark”

  1. Congratulations and well done on reaching that milestone. You must be feeling really accomplished by now. I hope your muses will continue to inspire you for the next half. Best of luck! 👍
    One after thought: since you are touching on the French Revolution, you might want to look into the Spanish Inquisition too: they loved torturing and killing all kinds of innocent people and accusing them of being witches or wizards. Nice bunch of people. Have fun! 👍

    Reply

    1. I forgot about the Spanish Inquisition. We touched on that in history classes, but not much. We mostly focused on the British, American, French and Caribbean. I will definitely look into that. That could be the setting for part 2, haha.

      When I told hubby I was halfway done he said, “What? Already? How? Are you a robot or something??” He couldn’t stop bringing it up for days. Like how? I don’t understand… already halfway? My god.. lol 😂😂 Definitely feeling proud of myself, but the first draft is just the first step in a long process.

      Thanks for the encouragement and tips!

      Reply

      1. Haha. How to impress a man! I do it with my cooking 😂!
        Plenty of real horror stories from the Inquisition. Anyone they deemed a threat to the Catholic Church was tortured and eventually murdered. Enough to give you nightmares. Wait! I think my hubby has even brought a book on that in the RV! I’ll go and find it and share a photo.

      2. Haha, indeed! My writing tends to do the trick with hubby, but the cooking is the other trap I set. 😂 I’m not sure what the third would be… maybe intellect. We’re both creative types, and really into history. I should probably ask him about the Spanish Inquisition too, now that I think about it.

        I’ll keep an eye out for that photo on Twitter! 😄

  4. Sometimes these things take on a life of their own. But the further you go with it the more I want to read it.

    Reply

      8. There are others more qualified to do a lot of things, but our personal stories are always unique. 😊

        Yes, I’m self-publishing, but not the penny budget way haha. I’m budgeting about $1000 at least to cover copyrights, ISBN, book cover and graphics, and proofreading/ editing. The PR and marketing I can do myself, via my firm. I also have an editor and designer at the firm, so that really helps quite a bit.

      9. You seem to have a respect for the craft that is noticeably absent when I’ve read works by others who claim to be writers but severely lack basic narrative techniques. Especially, on Wattpad.

      10. Thank you, Benjamin! *permanent blush*

        It’s probably because I’ve been writing stories since before I was literate 😂 I used to make them up based on the pictures in the books. I was reading (and illegally in school 😂) by 2 and a half months, and writing legibly by about 3 years. I guess we can thank my mum for giving me a bit of a head start.

        My grandma is the reader in the family though. I can’t wait to present her with a copy of the book. Mamie from the series is based on her. She’s no witch, but she’s that strong force to be reckoned with, and the current head of our matriarch.

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