Projects Update

~ An update on my current writing projects, and some exciting news! ~

Hey everyone!

This is a bit of a different post today, but I had some exciting news that’s related to my writing projects, and I figured I could also do an overall project update too!

First off, the news…

Exciting Update!

Back in January, on the second day of an online writing event called Crazy Writing Week, I finished the first draft of my fantasy novel WIP, The Hunted!!

This book is the first in a series that I’m working on, and I’ve been working on it for a bit over a year now, so it’s very exciting to have it finished!

I’ll say a little more about where it’s at now in my projects update below :)

Project 1

Title: The Hunted (The Zadrion Chronicles #1)

Stage of Development: Alpha Read

Current Wordcount: 62,060 words

Genre: Fantasy

Audience: Young Adult

I started this book in November of 2025, so I’m very happy to have it now finished! I think I’ve come a long way in my writing since then, and I’m really pleased with how this first draft has turned out.

My alpha readers are going through it right now and doing an amazing job of giving feedback, suggestions and edits!

I definitely want to publish this book at some point, but I think I’ll wait until I have the second book in the series at least partly drafted so there isn’t a huge gap in between each instalment in the series.

If you want to stay updated on this book’s progress, though, and be one of the first to know when it’s being published, do subscribe!

For now, here’s a rough blurb I’ve written for it :)

Kasia and Riordan are both sklaves (the lowest level of caste), in the strictly sectioned kingdom of Zadrion. When something happens that forces them to run from the castle they serve at, they have no choice but to cross the huge distance between them and a fabled group of fighters known as The Guardians, who stand against the caste system. But it's not so simple as just running away. Close on their heels are the terrifyingly mysterious slave-catchers called The Hunters. No one knows much about them because no one gets away alive to tell the tale. But unbeknownst to Kasia, there is a much higher price on her head than the normal sklave, because despite her efforts to remain inconspicuous, the Hunters already know about her gift. The gift of second sight, which gives her the ability to see the emotions of those around her as colours. Little does she know that the Royales (the highest sub-caste) have given The Hunters the command to kill every seer they find, regardless of age or caste. After all, what tyrants would want their subjects to have the ability to read them like an open book?
On the other side of the castes is Iselden, who has been trained as a Hunter his whole life. But deep within his confident exterior, he has a secret that he must protect at all costs. He knows that he needs to get out, but how can he? When the other Hunter in his pair and he are sent after two sklaves on the run from Castle Vorpalith, he must make his move before it's too late. But his time is running out - his commander is beginning to suspect his disloyalty. Can Iselden hide his secret from his commander and survive the distrust and greed that riddle the relationship between the two Hunters?

Project 2

Title: (TBC)

Stage Of Development: Planning

Current Wordcount: 261

Genre: Sci-Fi

Audience: New Adult/Young Adult

I randomly came up with the idea for this book one day, a few months ago, but I pushed it off while I was finishing The Hunted. It never left my mind, though, and so once I finished my other WIP, I moved on to planning this one and have completed almost the whole outline!

I’m mainly writing the second book in The Zadrion Chronicles at the moment, but this book is still very much in the works alongside that.

Here’s the current blurb -

Alyx Walker is a young emergency department doctor in the year 2066, living what one might call a normal life. She’s completed her medical training and is now working her dream job at the Whittington Hospital. She has an apartment in Hampstead, North London, good friends, and a fiancé. But then the unthinkable happens. On February 4th, a colossal solar storm hits the Earth. Technology fails. Alyx Walker is left in the horrific aftermath as the world plummets into unchecked and violent chaos. As people everywhere struggle to survive, Alyx tries to put her emergency medical skills to good use. But then she discovers something that leads to a shocking revelation. This solar storm wasn’t natural; it was artificially triggered from a private satellite monitored by a science lab buried deep underground somewhere in the Arctic. As time runs out and the world tries to cope with being forced into pre-industrialisation life, it’s crucial to find this scientific base... and whoever was in it when the solar storm hit. Who engineered this annihilation of the modern world, and why?

Project 3

Title: (TBC) - The Zadrion Chronicles #2

Stage Of Development: Planning

Current Wordcount: 0

Genre: Fantasy

Audience: Young Adult

This is the second book in The Zadrion Chronicles series (which started off with The Hunted)

It features an almost entirely different cast of characters from the first book, but it still belongs to the same overall story and world.

I can’t give too much info on this one because it’s not fully planned, but here’s a little brief compilation of things it will include and the general vibe of it.

~ A reluctant heir to a castle, evil nobility, upper-lower caste friendships, sacrifice for the greater good, grappling with truth, loyalty, courage, sarcasm, recovering from a difficult past, duelling, action, war, rebellion, romance, unwanted riches, forced chosen one, and much more!

If any of that interests you, make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss any updates, snippets, and sneak peeks!

Conclusion

So there’s a little update on my main WIPs at the moment!

I hope you enjoyed reading about them, and I’ll be giving more updates in the coming months about each of them.

As I mentioned at the start of this year, I’m trying out different types of posts to do alongside my consistent fiction posts, so I would love to hear from you if you like/dislike this kind of post!

Thank you for reading!

Until next time,

~ Charlotte Emily