Some people ease into fall with apple cider and a new sweater, but me? I've signed up to spend the next three months at a small Maine college where the students keep turning up dead.

The book is called Ice Out, and I've given myself 90 days to take it all the way to The End. This post is the starting gun. Here's the plan, what the book is about (no spoilers, I promise), and how you can follow along while it comes together.

The plan: 90 days

The clock started on October 1 and runs through the end of the year. The target is a complete manuscript by the end, which is a lot of book for three months. BUT a slasher runs on momentum, and so does the person writing one. A fixed finish line and a daily word count are exactly the pressure this book needs, and now that I've said it out loud, I can't quietly move the deadline.

The book: Ice Out

In Maine, "ice out" is the day the lakes finally let go of their winter ice. It's supposed to mean the worst is over.

Here's the pitch:

At a small Maine college, the spring thaw brings a masked killer along with it, and as the bodies pile up between ice out and graduation, a close-knit group of students realizes that the only thing more dangerous than the secrets they're keeping is the person among them who already knows them all.

Ice Out is a slasher mystery that unfolds over a single spring semester, with the clock running down to commencement. If you grew up on Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Friday the 13th, you already know the rules. I'm counting on that.

Expect slow-burn dread, twists that pull the floor out, and a queer cast who are the heart of the story rather than set dressing. This is a book for adults, and the kills do NOT look away.

That's all you get for now. No names, no body count, and absolutely no hints about who's behind the mask.

I'll be sharing the whole thing as the 90 days play out: word counts, small wins, the days it goes badly, and spoiler-free glimpses of the book as it takes shape.

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See you on campus. Watch the ice