Human Rights, News, Race Relations, The Moreau Witches, Women's Rights

The Moreau Witches, A Novel: First Draft Completed

by Alexis Chateau
Madeleine Moreau, Witches, paranormal fiction

On February 14th, I announced my plan to turn The Moreau Witches short story series into a novel, scheduled for publishing by the end of 2018. Just two weeks later, I announced that I had scrambled to the halfway mark.

Well, guess who has now completed the entire first draft of the witches’ daring tale of murder, feminism, and racism in 1800s England, France, and Haiti?

The Editing

Fact-Checking

Naturally, the next step is to get started on the editing process. For another novel of this length, the first round of edits would have taken me about a week. However, with the many instances of fact-checking I will have to do for this period piece, I foresee the first round of edits may take me at least a month.

New Faces

For those of you familiar with the original story, there are some new characters introduced in the novel that I hope you will come to love as much as the strong Moreau matriarchs.

One of these include an assassin from the streets of London, whose face a man sees only before his death. Another new character of note is Esther, an alleged Jamaican Obeah-woman who proves that knowledge is a much stronger currency than gold.

Artwork for Book Cover + Merch

In the interim, I will not lay idle — however idle one can call oneself when editing a novel! I have already begun the design process for the book cover and merch, and enlisted the help of a talented illustrator I’ve been stalking on Instagram for some time.

I will reveal her identity once work is underway, so you can all be as excited as I already am! If all goes as planned, the book cover reveal should take place in the summer, if not before, and merch should follow soon thereafter.

Beta Readers & Book Reviewers

I am also building my list of reliable beta readers and book reviewers. By the end of spring, and possibly before, I should have a readable manuscript for my beta readers. Naturally, I can’t accept everyone, but if you are interested in beta reading or later reviewing this novel, please do reach out to me!

My family, friends, original fans of the witches, and regular readers and commenters of this blog will always get first preference, but don’t be shy to reach out, even if you’re just stumbling across my work for the first time. I am also especially interested in getting my hands on European and West Indian history buffs, and anthropologists. If that’s you, please contact me!

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For on-going updates, check out the #MoreauWitches hash tag on Twitter, where I often tweet in real time, while working on the novel.

I got so much work done with the witches, while in the desert out west, and can’t wait to share that trip with you in upcoming posts. Stay tuned!

Alexis Chateau
Activist. Writer. Explorer.

 

28 thoughts on “The Moreau Witches, A Novel: First Draft Completed”

  1. I am a fan of the series when you first published them so I would definitely love to beta read. Wow! So exciting! Congratulations, even now! A complete first draft is a significant accomplishment.

    Reply

    1. Thanks Anne! Unfortunately, my beta reading list was already finalised some time last week. Stay tuned for more books on the way though. Already writing another. 😊

      Reply

      2. Haha. I’m sure you have a lot on your plate and just got busy. I’ve been falling behind on keeping up with blog posts now that I’ve been writing non-stop. It’s a tough balance!

    1. Sir Jacob Andrews is definitely a more common presence in the book, and as you know, is only there for Madeleine. 😍 There are also more details of their relationship leading up to the actual marriage.

      As for the twisted relationship between Basile and Charlotte, that letter George published for the Daily Courant, I wrote out the actual letter for the book. That gives a lot of details of what happened between Basile and Charlotte.

      There is also one more source which details some of Basile’s issues, but I can’t give that one away. And Charlotte has a romantic interest in the book, but I can’t give away who that is either haha.

      I really hope you enjoy it! 😄

      Reply

      1. I’m wondering if George has some kind of romantic connection to Charlotte…….but I guess I have to wait for the book. 🙂

  3. That’s wonderful! I like bed the short stories, I can’t wait! I’m originally from England, I grew up in London and know Kent and Sussex extremely well also if I can help with any facts 😊

    Reply

    1. Thank you! Are you familiar with any history or law from the 1800s in England? That’s where most of my fact-checking lies!

      Do you write fiction, as well?

      Reply

      1. No I don’t write but I do love reading! I’m hugely appreciative of authors for feeding my habit!
        I actually know a good deal about 28th century England so if I can help let me know.

      2. I do both! I think the best way to improve writing is to read!

        I’m going to assume the 28th was a typo, and you meant 18th? How did you become so knowledgeable about that era? I mostly learned from history and sociology classes in high school and college, but that was SO long ago 😂

      3. I loved history and still do. I read a lot of history books but I was very lucky growing up in London. Everything was right there on my doorstep.

      4. That’s great! I’ve been catching up myself, on that and the Haitian revolution.

        Do send me an email: https://alexischateau.com/email/

        Your insight would be greatly appreciated! I especially struggled with the Lord and Ladyship titles, especially how they translated across countries, and differed in pre and post revolutionary France. I think I have that solid now, but like I said, any insight would be appreciated.

        Thanks again! Looking forward to hearing from you. 😄

    1. Thanks Benjamin! I think you will enjoy the focus on the prejudice faced by the Blacks and mulattos in Europe, which was not as heavily touched on in the original series.

      Reply

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