In my New Year goal post, I did mention that I’d like to start a new series this year. And lo and behold, I finally finished writing the first book (yes, you read that right) from the series. Just to jog your memory, the series I mentioned in that post is called the Trigger Locked series.

The good news is, the first book from the series, The Mind Control Assassins is already complete. The only thing left for me to do is to release the book at the end of August.

Not only that, but I will also release a prequel to the series called A Triggered Past. So yes, you’ll get two books for a single release!

What Trigger Locked series is all about

In a nutshell, it’s a YA technothriller series. Set in Tokyo in the near future, the story revolves around Touka Kimizuki, a 16-year old girl who is just an ordinary high school student but also works as Public Security Intelligence Agency (PSIA) agent. She has a twin brother, Yuuto, who is also working as PSIA agent.

I haven’t decided yet whether the rest of the story arc in this series will be about Touka and Yuuto while they’re still in the high school. I’m also playing around with the idea of the story shift once they graduate from the high school. But for the time being, you can expect that the story will always be about them leading a double life while still at the high school.

Just like any secret agent series, they’re going to pursue a villain, which is the focal point in this series. I’m not going to tell who is this person. So, all I can say for now is to get the book if you want to find out who is the person I’m referring to.

I’m also thinking about having the series to have a bit of resemblance in how the storyline will develop just like in Detective Conan. In case you don’t read or watch Detective Conan, it’s about a high school detective, Shinichi Kudo who turns into an elementary school kid. It was all because of the drug the men in black in black gave him when they found out that he was tailing him. Because of this, he must pursue these men so then he can turn back into how he used to be.

Okay, it’s hard for me to write a description about Detective Conan since the term is probably different in the English version. I read the manga in Malay, so I don’t know the exact word they use to describe those guys in English.

Going back to Trigger Locked series, you can expect that Touka and Yuuto will receive a different mission in between while still pursuing their target. So, pursuing this guy will be their long-term focus. And with someone who is this prolific, it’s not going to be easy to pursue him, let alone arrest him.

Even though the series has a probability to follow a similar storyline pattern like Detective Conan, it doesn’t mean that I’m going to drag the story just for the sake of extending the series. If I feel like it’s enough to wrap up the story with just five books in the series, then I’ll do just like that.

Again, I’m not sure how long the series is going to be. But you can expect that there’ll be a couple of books released for this series in the future.

Why I’ve decided to write the Trigger Locked series

I admit that my decision to write a series has a lot to do with the authors around me are doing the same thing. But then again, this reason alone is not enough to motivate me to begin writing a series.

After finishing writing Twisted Destiny and the prequel to the book, Twisted Destiny: The Past, I realize that writing series isn’t as hard as I thought. Sure, it’s only just two books. But it does show that I can do it.

Well, I should have done it ages ago. But at that time, I was just worried that I may not have enough idea to expand the story. I may already have thought the ending for the series, but what was I going to fill in the middle part of the story? What sort of story that I needed to write so it would reach the ending I wanted?

Wow, that seems like a lot of thoughts, right?

Even if I’ve decided to write a series from the beginning, I doubt that I can expand the storyline in The Diary of Modern Cinderella. The ending for The Diary of Modern Cinderella isn’t meant to be extended into another continuation. Maybe I can do that with a little bit of creativity, but I think the current ending works just fine for me.

Another reason for me to write a series is because I don’t have to think about establishing a new foundation for the book. I can just reuse the main character, supporting characters, the settings, and even the underlying issues, if any. I’m pretty sure that other authors share the same thought as I do on why they want to write a series.

To be honest, it’s not easy to come up with the new story and refines it along the way. And it can be mind boggling too. This is why writing a series is appealing to me. The only thing I need to do now is to create another plot based on the existing main character.

It’s in the different genre too

I know that the Trigger Locked series is different since it’s YA technothriller. The only thing which remains the same is the Young Adult (YA) part. This is certainly not going to change because of my preferences.

And this brings us to another question: why thriller?

One of the reasons is because I love the genre. When I take a look at the anime that I like to watch, they always fall into the mystery, thriller, suspense and supernatural. So, it makes sense for me to make the Trigger Locked series moving in that direction.

Another reason is that it’s easier to combine facts and fiction in a thriller novel. Okay, it’s not that you can’t blend fact and fiction if you write YA fantasy. Well, you can do that, of course. But the facts will only be relevant to that book alone, and it may not jive that much with the reality.

Maybe I lack imagination, but I do realize that I have a difficulty in coming up with my theory. I have no problem with understanding the logical explanation and make it in such a way that people who have zero knowledge about it understand it from the get-go.

But coming up with my own theory? That’s just too much for me. Now, it looks me that the fantasy genre will be the genre that I need steer clear. I think I’m doing okay with sci-fi since there’s still some real life facts embedded into that genre. But you’ll never know that I may write in that genre someday. The future is hard to predict. And funny too, isn’t it?

Besides, I realize that the lingering effect in a thriller anime is more long-lasting than any other genre. Perhaps, it must have something to do with the plot that gives me the lingering effect years after I watch the anime. Sure, it maybe a work of fiction. But it’s still based on the real facts. Even some of the anime are based on the real person and event.

Anime like PSYCHO PASS and Zankyou no Terror still lingers in my mind even until to this day. It makes sense why I still have the lingering effects because I love PSYCHO PASS. As for Zankyou no Terror, I don’t like the anime that much.

The only reason why I still remember what the anime is all about is that it has a disturbing theme. I guess the anime will be more prominent to me if it has a disturbing theme. It’s a common theme in a thriller novel.

I’m not sure at what length the Trigger Locked series will affect you. But I’m going to be upfront here that the theme for the first book can be a bit disturbing to some people.

Never say I’ve never warned you!

It will be available soon

The first book in the Trigger Locked series will be available at the end of August along with the prequel to the series. Since there’ll be a few months before the release, the prologue for the book will be available in the early July on Wattpad. I also plan to post the rest of the chapters on Wattpad. But it’s going to be a weekly update. If you’re on Wattpad, feel free to follow me if you want to be the first to notified when the prologue for the first book will be available.

I also plan to post the rest of the chapters on Wattpad. But it’s going to be a weekly update. If you’re on Wattpad, feel free to follow me if you want to be the first to notified when the prologue for the first book will be available.

You don’t need to have Wattpad account if you want to read the book. But it’s good to have one since you can save my book to the library for your future reading.

The link for pre-order for the book (e-book, paperback, and audiobook) is not yet available, but you can join my mailing list if you’d like to be the first to know when the link for the pre-order is available.

Upon joining my mailing list, you’ll also receive the prequel to Twisted Destiny, Twisted Destiny: The Past. The prequel to the Trigger Locked series will also be released to those who have joined my mailing list.

If you haven’t joined my mailing list, you can do so here:

Join my mailing list and get FREE ebook along the way

Now I’m so looking forward to letting you have a look at the Trigger Locked series.