It’s been nearly two months since I reported that the working manuscript of the fifth Paul Robertson novel, A Loving Light, was about 95,000 words. Since then, I’ve been working hard, and the manuscript is currently just over 170,000 words.
The narrative has moved on significantly. Can I say “very significantly” or does significantly imply the “very” already?
Whatever.
I’ve always maintained that my goal with A Healing Love was to leave the reader in no doubt who Paul’s future wife was. In fact, I’m so sure that anyone following the series will know who she is, that in my conversations with Gemini about the narrative of A Loving Light, I’m asking it to tell me what “Team xxx” will make of each scene, given they are egging Paul on to catch up with what they already know.
Yes, I’m still using Gemini as an assistant. Right now, at the first draft stage, I’m using it as a sounding board, really. It’s like having a beta-reader on speed dial. I can finish a scene, feed it into the app, and it will give me an overall first impression as if it were a reader of the scene and how it fits into the wider narrative. It talks to me about character growth and plot progression.
It’s very useful.
It’s also been very useful as a research tool. For example, when it comes to Paul’s evolving business life, there are some aspects of the world he inhabits that I don’t know about and would usually have to research on various websites, which could take ages. But one of the great things about Gemini is that it can go out and do a lot of that research for you and summarise the results. Its “Deep Research” function is a top-draw tool.
It really helped me plan Kayla’s tour, for example, helping me plan which cities she visits and which venues she performs at. I’ll be honest, I’ve probably over-researched and gone into much more planning detail than would ever be needed for the novel, but having that level of detail available for me to refer to gives me confidence when writing the scene around it.
The same goes for Paul’s banking arrangements and the structure of his investment company and its subsidiaries. It’s a level of detail the reader doesn’t need to know, but it’s useful for me, so I can write with confidence and know that I’m not contradicting myself.
I’m still not making any predictions about when the book will be finished. I’m currently faced with a dilemma, though. I’ve essentially finished Paul’s story—but there’s a bigger story, something that “Future Paul” refers to in an interlude as “their story,” that needs to be told. But I’m asking myself if I should tell it in this book, or in a 6th book in the series.
I haven’t made up my mind yet.
If I do decide to end the book at Future Paul’s interlude, then I’ll need to start the editing process on it, which usually takes a few months.
I’ll keep you updated as we head into 2026.
