Pageturners: Introducing MI7 Assassin, my new WW1 thriller!

He didn’t believe in pacifism or any other ism. He just wanted the war to stop. He just wanted the voices in his head to stop. But the dirty secret of war is that the dead stay with you.

Welcome to Pageturners, a book I’m writing in which I share what I’ve learnt – and am still learning – about comic writing, film writing, novel writing and how new writers can sell their stories.

For the next six weeks or so I’ll be sharing with you the back story of MI7 Assassin, revealing the experiences that compelled the protagonist to become an assassin, including his meeting with real historical figures, many of whom feature prominently in the novel.

And I welcome your feedback or questions, so do leave a comment below!

Missed the Pageturners intro? Read it here.

Sean Stone. The MI7 Assassin.

He didn’t believe in pacifism or any other ism

He just wanted the war to stop.

He just wanted the voices in his head to stop.

But the dirty secret of war is that the dead stay with you.

---

So this winter I finally start writing my novel The MI7 Assassin, and I’ll publish it in weekly episodes here on Iconoblast. So make sure you subscribe – you don’t want to miss this!

It’s an action thriller set in World War One:

Trained to kill as a trench raider, Stone puts his talents to devastating use killing traitors.

I’ve deliberately painted myself into a corner by announcing it, so now I have to finish writing and publish it! Otherwise I might spend forever polishing and refining the details. I’ve actually been working on different versions of this story for several years, and it crystallised into its final form about a year ago. You can read more about that in my Pageturners post: Why you should give your character a back story.

In fact, back in July I said that the project was months away, but the last pieces of the puzzle fell into place and I took the advice all writers must pay heed to, particularly me: ‘Just get on with it!’

Stone carries out vigilante justice against those who consider themselves above the law.

The weekly format is one I’m especially fond of because it will leave every episode on a dramatic cliff-hanger, which was always my specialty.

The Substack approach is used by other novelists, including Chuck Palahniuk, the  writer of Fight Club. He published the first draft of his novel, Greener Pastures, in episodes on Substack, and got a lot of reader feedback. He’s currently reworking the story for publication as a trade paperback with a traditional publisher in 2024. ‘That shows how the laboratory of on-line drafts and comments doesn’t kill a book. It can build it,’ he says in his sign off for the novel.

I have the same plan in mind for The MI7 Assassin. With us eventually publishing it independently under our Millsverse imprint when it’s finished.

But before I do ‘just get on with it’, there’s a further process that every writer should go through: writing up the protagonist’s back story, their chronology, the inciting incident, descriptions of the main characters, and key location and technical details.

Because the last thing you want to do when you’re in full flow writing is to stop for a day to pore over maps checking that your locations are correct and will fit the action and drama you have in mind. 

So all that information needs to be already at your fingertips.

I’ll also be writing and publishing two short stories about Sean Stone, so I’m familiar with every aspect of the character: His Master’s Voice and The Cave of the Golden Calf. And they will help introduce the character to the reader before ‘the main event’.  

These two assassination stories show more of his modus operandi and the formidable nature of his enemies.

Both times he makes mistakes and was lucky to escape. By his third hit, in the novel, he’s a more accomplished assassin.

So here’s a ‘look under the bonnet’ with examples of what all this looks like, starting with the chronology. It doesn’t give the story and the plot away, although it does give you some clues on how and why he became an assassin.  

So look away if you’d rather wait until you read The MI7 Assassin novel, coming very soon!

CHRONOLOGY  

PROTAGONIST: SEAN STONE

1894: Born to Irish mother and English father.

1909: Leaves home. He is 15 years old.

1909-1914: Works in music halls as a musician and an aerialist. He is one of ‘The Flying Desperados’ trapeze artists.

1911: He writes his first book, Backstage. It is rejected by publishers because it is ‘scandalous’ and ‘potentially libelous’ about well known music hall artists. But he is complimented on the quality of his writing and encouraged to keep submitting manuscripts.

1912: His second book – The Aerialist – is rejected by publishers because his aerial feats on the trapeze, as a Desperado, are too ‘run of the mill’ and ‘not spectacular enough’ for a book audience.

1913: He joins the British army special reserve where he meets his five comrades: Sergeant Dawes, Mick Harris, Duncan Mond, Dean Scorer and Ralph Plant.

1914, July 28^th: World War One begins. Sean and his comrades are in the British expeditionary force sent to Flanders, Belgium.

1914, August to September: Sean and his comrades are in combat during the Retreat from Mons.

1915, January: His third book –The Young Contemptibles – is accepted, published, and is a big success. The Kaiser supposedly called the British expeditionary force a ‘contemptible little army’ and Sean’s book is a patriotic and positive view of life in the army.

1915, September–October: Sean and his comrades see action in the Battle of Loos. The six soldiers have become specialist, trained ‘trench raiders’, raiding enemy lines for prisoners and intelligence.

1916, March 6: On home leave, Sean talks to his younger brother Tom, who is a pacifist. Sean is not a pacifist and they disagree about the war, but they respect each other’s views.

1916, February: His fourth book – ‘Alf a Mo, Kaiser – is published and is an even bigger success. It is similarly autobiographical and ‘full of heart-warming tales of our gallant lads’.

1916, March: Sean’s comrades read his book and are not impressed. ‘We thought you’d tell the truth about the war, but instead you write just the same old Boys Own Paper tripe. It’s eyewash written to amuse the idiots back home’. It will cause more young men to enlist and die. They don’t accept Sean’s ‘excuse’ that ‘this is what the public want to read.’ And ‘No one can publish the truth.’

1916, April 24: Easter Rising in Dublin. 

1916, May 7: When Mick Harris hears the news of the insurrection in Ireland, he feels he can no longer fight for Britain and deserts. Sean helps Mick desert. He has useful contacts via his pacifist younger brother. But Sean declines to join Mick. Mick accuses him of ‘betraying the cause’. Sean remains loyal to the British flag.

1916, May 15: Sean sends his new book The Ragtime Infantry to his publisher.  He hasn’t shown it to his comrades because he knows they will disapprove of it.  

1916, June 15: Sean and his comrades take part in a major raid on enemy lines.

1916, July 1: The first day of the Battle of the Somme. The British army sustained 57,000 casualties.

Sean’s four comrades are killed in action. Sean receives a ‘Blighty One’ wound.

The Ragtime Infantry is published and is an instant best-seller.

1916, August 12, London: As Sean recuperates in hospital, he is invited to join MI7b, the military intelligence department responsible for domestic and foreign propaganda.  His patriotism and talents as a writer make him a valuable asset.  MI7b have noted there was a spike in recruiting figures each time his books are published. He is the only ‘working class’ writer in MI7b and has ‘the common touch’ they need.

1916, August 25, London: Sean is discharged from hospital and moves into Ralph Plant’s old home: a gravedigger’s cottage in Brompton Road cemetery.

1916, September: Sean begins writing for MI7b at their offices in Adelphi Terrace in the Strand. MI7 share the building with the Ministry of Munitions. He meets other wounded soldiers, talented writers who have joined MI7b. They include his C.O., Captain Hugh Pollard, responsible for the most infamous propaganda of the war, Lord Dunsanay, the famous Anglo-Irish fantasy writer, and A.A. Milne, assistant editor of Punch.   

1916, October The nightmares Sean has been having now get worse, leading to sleepless nights. He hates the propaganda he is writing because he knows it’s all lies. He is ‘haunted’ by his dead comrades who accuse him of betraying them.  They tell him what he has to do to make things right: to kill the traitors who are deliberately prolonging the war. He refuses to listen to them

1916, October 31: INCITING INCIDENT Sean and Captain Pollard meet Siegfried Sassoon, known as ‘Mad Jack’ because of his crazy courage in battle. He also believes the war is being prolonged for profit. He wants to publish a ‘Soldier’s Declaration’ revealing the truth, and seeks Pollard’s help. Pollard persuades Sassoon to remain silent. So Sean decides he must do something. See ‘Smite the Wrongs’ next week.

1916, November 8: Stone’s first assassination of a traitor. See short-story ‘His Master’s Voice’. (Coming up on Substack in November 2023)

1917, January 1: Stone’s second assassination. See short-story ‘The Cave of the Golden Calf’. (Coming up on Substack in November 2023)

1917, January 10: Following forensic tests, Captain Pollard identifies the same gun was used in both killings. He nicknames the assassin ‘The Liontamer’ and writes in a newspaper that the proud British Lion will never be tamed by the killer.

1917, Late January: THE NOVEL BEGINS. On Substack, winter 2023.

Next week: MI7 Assassin – Inciting Incident ‘Smite the wrongs’