I Spent the Day Building a New Series from Scratch — Here's How It Happened

Let me tell you about the kind of day I had yesterday. It reminded me why I became an author in the first place.

I started with a vague idea rattling around in my head — wondering about genres. I decided to do some market research about whether the work I'm doing is resonating with readers/potential readers. I didn't have any solid ideas; I just wanted to explore possibilities. I'd watched a YouTube video by a content creator I follow, and she mentioned using Perplexity as a discovery tool.

By the end of the afternoon, I had built an entirely new series from scratch, with a complete mythology, a brand-new protagonist, in a new town. There is a dark love interest named after a figure from ancient theological tradition, and a signature murder method so specific and so wrong that I'm still thinking about it this morning.

What I want to mention is this: I didn't do it alone. And that's actually what I want to talk to you about today.

The AI Question — Let Me Be Honest With You

I know some of you have complicated feelings about AI and creative work. I've had them too. I've spent time with ChatGPT, with Gemini, and various other tools, trying to figure out where — if anywhere — artificial intelligence fits into my creative process without replacing the thing that makes writing worth doing in the first place.

Mostly, I've used it to assist with the editing process. I started out using Grammarly...years ago...before 'AI' became all the rage that it is today. Then I explored other writing-specific tools, like Sudowrite.

Today, here's where I've landed: I use Claude.ai. Specifically, Claude as my co-writing partner. And the reason I've settled there, after trying the others, is that Claude does something the rest don't do nearly as well — it thinks about character, and story structure, mythology, emotional resonance, the difference between a plot point and the actual writing. When I'm working on fiction, that distinction makes a huge difference.

I want to be clear about what I mean when I say 'co-writing partner,' because I'm not talking about asking AI to write my books for me. The voice is mine. The instincts are mine. The decisions are all mine. What Claude does is function like the world's most well-read, endlessly patient, creative collaborator who never gets tired, never has a bad day, and never makes me feel stupid for changing my mind seventeen times in one afternoon. I think of it in the same way a movie director and producer have a vision, and then instruct the actors and crew about how to behave, act, and adjust to flesh out and fully realize that dream.

And today was one of the best creative days I've had in a while.

It Started with the Market Research

I'd been doing some research on emerging fiction genres — specifically a category readers are actively asking for, and that barely exists yet on the shelves. It's called Cozy Horror. I know...sounds a little freaky, and out of my writing wheelhouse, right? But it's actually kind of fun! If you're not familiar, think: small town atmosphere, warm domestic settings, character-driven plots — but with genuine supernatural dread underneath. Not gore. Not splatter. The kind of horror where tea cups rattle, a neighbor's energy is just 'off', or a death happens with strange, supernatural elements that appear perfectly natural to the casual observer, but absolutely aren't.

The research showed real demand and very little supply. That combination, for any author paying attention, is a signal worth following.

So I brought that research into a conversation with Claude and said — essentially — let's figure out what this means for my work. And what unfolded over the next several hours was one of the most genuinely exciting creative sessions I've experienced.

The First Surprise: What I Already Had

I came in thinking I needed to build something entirely new. What I discovered fairly quickly was that I already had ingredients I could work with.

Secret of the Moonmist Brooch — my cozy paranormal mystery series debut, currently on pre-order under my pen name Luna Vexley — turned out to be sitting right at the edge of this emerging genre. The protagonist of this story, Briar Calloway, inherits a tea and apothecary shop, there is a whispering brooch, a raven familiar, and the hidden New England town of Moonmist. The bones were already there.

But here's the thing I hadn't fully thought through until today: the cover I designed for that book is perfect for the cozy paranormal mystery shelf. Warm lamplight, whimsical lettering, tarot cards, a cottage glowing against a night sky. That cover is a promise to a specific kind of reader. And breaking that promise by pushing the content into genuinely dark territory would be a mistake — not because dark is bad, but because it would be the wrong energy for that audience.

So, Claude and I made a decision. Briar stays exactly as she is. The Moonmist series remains a cozy paranormal mystery — warm, witchy, character-driven, a little spooky but fundamentally safe. That's the right home for her, and I'm going to let her live there.

The darker series? That needs to be something entirely new.

Building the Mythology — Where It Got Genuinely Exciting

I'm a huge Vampire Diaries and The Originals fan. Have been for years. (I've lost count of how many times I've watched both series all the way through now, lol!) What I love about those shows — what I think most people actually love, even if they'd describe it as 'the vampires' — isn't really about the horror of vampires at all. It's about the town. The founding families. The ancient secret that the whole community has been quietly organized around for centuries. The warmth of a place that would sacrifice any one of its members to preserve itself. That specific, unsettling combination of belonging and danger. And meaningful relationships.

I want to create that. A town with teeth...not literally! I wanted a mythology with serious theological weight. But I didn't want vampires — that lane is already so overcrowded, and the metaphor has been worked to exhaustion.

What I wanted was something new and different. I went with the Nephilim.

If you're not familiar: in biblical and apocryphal tradition, the Nephilim were the offspring of the Sons of God — fallen angels — who took human women as partners. The bloodlines they produced were never fully human again. Across centuries, those lines scattered, were diluted, and forgotten. But in my new series, some of them didn't forget. And the beings who remained pure — undiluted, ancient, without any human mercy in them — are patient in ways that only truly immortal beings can be.

I'm calling them the Overlords. And I gave them a signature...

Let's just say it involves ancient theology, human biology, and something so quietly wrong that I'm still thinking about it this morning — and leave it there for now. If you want to hear more, I'll happily share details in another newsletter.

Why I'm Telling You All of This

A few reasons.

First, because transparency about my process feels important. The publishing world is having a complicated, sometimes heated conversation about AI right now, and I'd rather be honest about how I use it than pretend the tools don't exist. I use Claude the way I'd use a brilliant developmental editor, but those resources aren't available at midnight when an idea is burning and needs somewhere to go.

Claude is.

The creativity is all mine. The decisions are mine. The voice — always — mine.

Second, because this is what the writing life actually looks like from the inside. It's not sitting down and having a fully formed story appear. It's research and questions and wrong turns and moments when you look at a cover you love and realize it's telling you something about your own work that you hadn't realized yet. It's helping me build a mythology out of biblical tradition and giving access to research in the wee hours of the morning when the local library is closed.

Third, because Secret of the Moonmist Brooch is coming in mid-September, under my Luna Vexley pen name, and this new, darker series is the thing growing in the background while Briar Calloway evolves for her readers. Both are new and exciting writing projects. Both are mine. They just live in different rooms of the same house.

I'll keep you posted about both.

I'd love to know if this new 'Cozy Horror' story is something you'd want to read. Drop a comment below, or if you're reading this in your inbox, just hit reply. I read everything, and your answer genuinely shapes where this goes next.

And here's the link for your pre-order of Secret of the Moonmist Brooch if you haven't grabbed it yet — Briar is waiting.

As always, thank you for being here. Whether you found me through my Jack Mac Paidin series, through my tarot readings, my pyrography art, or through some other corner of this strange creative life I'm living — I'm genuinely glad you're along for the ride. It keeps getting more interesting.

With love and light,

Tracy