February 2026: Back in the Mystery

The winter solstice is behind us. The days are getting longer, and the light is coming back.

So are we.

We started working on Wolfe’s Blood again in January, putting actual words on the page!

Reconnecting with the Mystery

We’re on Part 4 of 5. The boys are deep into the mystery, going through all the information they know. They’re unpacking it, discovering the truth.

But since we’ve been away from the book for so long, we’re unpacking the mystery right along with them. We need to figure out who the victims are, who the suspects are, what actually happened and when.

So if they’re writing lists of victims and suspects, so are we. If they’re making timelines of when bodies were found and who was where, so are we. We diagram crime scenes and map locations. We work through files—interview transcripts, police evidence, financial records, connections that aren’t public. When things don’t make sense, we make another list, another timeline, another diagram, until they do.

We’re rediscovering the case right alongside Shepherd and Wolfe.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The Craft of Revelation

Once we know all the details of the crime, the real work begins: figuring out when the boys discover each piece and in what order works best for the story.

But it’s more than just when—it’s how. Does someone tell them? Do they read about it in a file? Do they have to get locked in a room or beaten up to find the information?

And what slows them down? Who knocks on the door to threaten them? Who chases after them? If they get chased, how and where does that happen?

We want to find the balance. We need to make the boys struggle and work for their discoveries—but not so much that readers feel frustrated, yelling at us to hurry up and move the story forward. The trick is to make it hard on the characters without making the gears of the story visible.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Willing to Change

We’ve known details about this book since writing our second book, Shepherd’s Call. When we finally started working on it, we came up with a plan—an outline that mapped the journey across the book.

But despite all that, we’re still willing to change it.

In Book 3, we changed our killer late in the process—turned one person into the fake-out and made it someone else entirely.

We’re willing to do it in this book, too. In fact, we already have. We’ve moved some characters around, made some choices, and shifted things to make the story more interesting and sneakier with readers.

And David’s still playing with the ending, thinking he might want to change it, extend it, to make it harder on the heroes.

Everything is up for grabs until the very last words are written. And even then, if we find a way to improve the story, we go for it.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Moving Forward

We’re back at work. We have the plan. We have the time. Now we do the work.

Until next time,
Angie and David​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​