Today I hunkered down indoors until a break in the weather meant I could get out for a bit.

Daily Debrief: 21 April 2026

Output

Write: The titular steam train pulled into Featherston Station in Killer on the Kelvin Explorer (The Milverton Mysteries #5)! Today’s writing involved: a bog in the middle of nowhere, with fog rolling in, and the only building for miles.

Input

Read: ‘The Five Stages of Editing a Book’ by David Gaughran (post on author website). I always enjoy seeing how other authors do what they do, where we overlap, where we differ, and which aspects I might trial or incorporate into my own process.

Exercise: Mid-afternoon is usually when my brain power and creative energy are at their lowest ebb, so I often take the chance to stretch my legs. Luckily today’s run lined up well with a break in the rain, but the Manawatū River was still dealing with the recent days of wild weather, swollen almost to the top of its main channel (pictured above).

Listen: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Spotify). Delightfully quirky, amusing, mysterious. Ideal mystery-writing music.

Chat: Discussed mystery/thriller/crime writing with an author friend.

Watch: A classic 1969 episode of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! for research purposes, of course.

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