Yep. Not just kill, but murder. Kill implies that maybe it was an accident, maybe you’ll get time off for good behaviour, maybe… Am I overthinking this?

Probably.

This week, I took stock of how far my dark, dystopian book child has progressed since the germ of the idea came to me in the dim and distant past. I won’t go into the details because you only have so much time to devote to me and my weekly novel-writing thoughts, but I started out wanting this novel to be a literary work, an homage to my dad who worked tirelessly for the environment. He earned an OBE for his services.

I have to say though, that was all a bit worthy and earnest, if not daunting. Maybe one day, when I’m not juggling all the things, maybe I’ll return to that idea. It could happen. However, I wanted to write a novel that I could complete before I become too old and addled in my brain to string a sentence together and remember what I am doing.

Where was I? Oh, yes.

Here is the current iteration of Anti-Virus. There are still threads of environmental concerns running through it, along with revelations of corruption and misdirection all set against a background of a moral and ethical wasteland. I have murdered the ‘worthy’ – may it rest in peace. It’s a dystopian thriller. Ain’t nothing too worthy going on in that genre!

I’ve also murdered a few other things. Like the point of view, the tense, the reason why we meet the main character in her small, small world, why her partner does what she does, why the antagonist does what he does and also the ending.

In short, the book is now very different to its oh so lofty (and yet humble) beginnings.

Hi. My name’s Freya, I murder my darlings and boy, does it feel good!