It all started with a short story. A short piece I published—briefly—before I pulled it back, gutted it, and realised I’d barely scratched the surface. What I thought was a standalone tale turned out to be the gateway to something far bigger, far darker, and far more emotionally charged than I’d anticipated.
The original story followed a woman who’d lost touch with her mum. When her mother dies, she inherits powers she never asked for—and loses her sight in the process. Her world flips upside down. Grief, guilt, and a sudden supernatural inheritance collide. And just when she’s trying to make sense of it all, she learns the person who killed her mum is now hunting her too.
That story built the bones of the world. But it was the detective—Logan Fraser—who wouldn’t let me go. After revising the short, I found myself asking: who was he, really? What was his story? And why did he feel like the emotional anchor I hadn’t expected?
So I sat down to write what I thought would be a novella. A tight, gritty piece to explore Logan’s arc. But the story had other plans. It grew teeth. It grew heart. And before I knew it, I was staring down the barrel of a full-blown novel.
Then came the need for a prequel. Something to set the stage. I told myself I’d keep it lean—just enough to give readers a taste. But I used my novel plotting techniques (aye, I know), and once again, the novella ballooned into a novel. Book one became book two. And I was back at square one, needing yet another story to fill the gap.
This time, I learned my lesson. I plotted something deliberately small. A sharp, focused glimpse into Logan’s first day on the job in Edinburgh as Detective Sergeant for Major Crimes. No sprawling arcs. No tangled subplots. Just a taster. A moment. A man stepping into a world that’s about to test every ounce of grit he’s got.
And while the prequel mostly obeyed its brief, it still let me capture the same politics, family dynamics, and character struggles that first pulled me into Logan’s story. That emotional grit—the tension between duty and vulnerability—is what makes him so compelling to write. It’s what makes this world feel alive.
Revisiting the Original Story
When I publish book two of the series, I’ll be republishing that original short story alongside it. Not just for nostalgia’s sake, but to let you see where this world began. That said, it won’t be in its exact original form. As I’ve worked through book two, the short story had to shift a little—tighten here, expand there—to stay true to the world as it’s grown. It’s brought its own fun challenges, weaving old threads into new fabric without losing the emotional punch that started it all.
Get the Prequel Free
If this sounds like something you might enjoy, you can get the prequel for free by joining my newsletter. It’s the perfect way to meet Logan Fraser and step into the world of Death and Vision—right at the beginning.
