Introducing Coco

And so a new era begins. After ten Hugo Duchamp books (in fact now eleven, I’ve just finished the next one) I somehow fell into writing a new series. Charlotte ‘Coco’ Brunhild first made an appearance in ‘La famille Lacroix’ - it was brief, but something about her invaded my self-consciousness and I knew I had to bring her back, so she makes a much bigger appearance in the ninth Hugo novel, ‘Les Mauvais Garçons.’ I didn’t know it at the time, but it was a sort of launchpad for her own series. Before I knew it, she had her own lieutenant, her own doctor and forensic expert and her own boss/nemesis. A cast of characters immediately ready for their own spin-off. By the end of the book, I realised the next book I wrote would be hers. Just hers.

Sept Jours. The concept came quickly. When I started I knew only one thing for certain. Coco’s books had to be different enough for them to stand apart from the Hugo ones. And then I had a thought. The book would take place over a period of one week (Sept Jours, get it?) and rather than have chapters moving between different characters, I decided that each chapter would be lead by, and mostly controlled by Coco. It felt right, and certainly in fitting with her character. It also adds a certain urgency to the proceedings, and because we’re really only seeing things through her eyes, makes for an interesting change.

I so enjoyed writing Coco, it gave me the confidence to move on with other diversions (more on that soon). And here we are, a matter of days before she is finally released into the world, and we have a brand new website to help launch this new era. Thank you for sharing this journey with me. 

GXX