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The Cat That Kept Growing

May 19, 2026 by Morgan Delaney Leave a Comment

A vintage black and white photo of two worried-looking men. One asks, "Not... mischief?" The other replies, "I'm afraid so."

Raise your glasses to the masses!

This week I smashed past a massive 100,000 words of the latest Alumière adventure, The Cat Wore Black!

100,000 words is about the length of To Kill a Mockingbird.

And I’m only about 80-ish% through the book.

Don’t worry, though. I’m a messy writer, and this is the first draft.

Once I pull out the Red Pen and start deleting, that word count will come right back down again.

I reckon the finished Cat will clock in at a respectable 75,000-80,000 like the others.

Overwrite, then over-edit.

That’s my motto.

For example, I’m currently 18,000 words into a short story, for which I only need about 4,000…

Words, it seems, are a lot like rats…

They’re happier in packs.

Or, to be precise, in mischiefs, which is the collective noun for rats.

And there’s definitely mischief afoot in Hawkinge-By-Hythe, when rats descend upon the town to answer a dead witch’s call for revenge.

Who can the townsfolk call to save them?

The three Alumière sisters: Colette; Victoria, and Gertrude.

By the way, the correct collective noun for Alumières is an intrepid of Alumières.

​Find out why here!

Chat soon,

Morgan

P.S. More Morgan? Get 2 of my books free here: morgandelaney.info/newsletter

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