know.

CookbookBooks and writingNo. 2

A novel series bibleevery name, date and eye colour, checked before the next book

Recipe No. 2 · Books and writing

For: A novelist on book four of a mystery series

You get: A series bible where every fact cites its book and chapter

Time: An evening per book, then ten minutes

See it in know.sh

Tom Aske’s section with a card at its head, each fact ending with the book and chapter that set it, and a proposed note where a later book disagrees.

The Harrow Bay booksCharacters

4of 23

Tom Aske, the harbourmaster

Observation, key section, 1 highlight, 1 note, 418 words

Appearance. Tall, stooped, a burn scar across the back of his left hand (B1, ch. 6). Wears his late wife’s reading glasses on a cord (B3, ch. 2).

History. Moved to Harrow Bay from Leeds at nineteen to work the ferry (B2, ch. 14). Harbourmaster since 1998 (B1, ch. 6).

Family. Widower; wife Ellen died of a stroke eight years before Book 1 (B1, ch. 11). One son, Callum, in Aberdeen; never on the page.

Habits. Keeps the tide tables by hand in a school exercise book. Calls Mara “Inspector” only when he is angry with her (B2, ch. 5).

Your assistant as continuity clerk: the answer comes from the bible with its book and chapter, and a disagreement is pointed out, not smoothed over.

Claude, connected to know.sh · reading Characters

You

Using know.sh, what colour are Mara’s eyes in my Harrow Bay books, and where did I say so?

Claude

Grey-green. You set it in Book 1, chapter 3, where her mother says Mara has “her father’s eyes, grey-green like the estuary”. Book 2, chapter 8 repeats it.

One line disagrees: your chapter notes for Book 3, chapter 22 record Jen saying “you and your blue eyes”. If that line made it into print, it is the only place. I have left a proposed note on that chapter note so you can check the page.

From your library

  1. Characters, 1: Mara Linden
  2. Book 3 — chapter notes, 22: Chapter 22: The tide tables
The reader’s guide as the public sees it: read-only, without your notes, and without sections for the book that is not out yet.

app.dev.know.sh/share/…, Read only

Harrow Bay: a reader’s guide to Books 1–3

Shared from a library on know. 5 sections.

Who’s who in Harrow Bay, for readers who have finished The Low Tide and want to keep the families straight. Nothing here gives away the ending of any book.

New characters from Book 4 will appear here the week it is published.

Sections

  1. Mara Linden (Observation, high importance)
  2. Tom Aske, the harbourmaster (Observation, high importance)
  3. Jen Linden (Observation, medium importance)
  4. The Reverend Anna Pryce (Observation, medium importance)
  5. The Ferry Inn and its landlady (Observation, low importance)

How it works

By book four, the harbourmaster moved to Harrow Bay at nineteen in one book and has lived there all his life in another. Your assistant reads your own manuscripts, files every fact with its book and chapter, tells you where you gave Mara grey-green eyes, and leaves a proposed note wherever a new chapter disagrees.

  1. Have your assistant read the books

    Give it your manuscripts and ask for four documents, Characters, Places, Timeline and Rules of the series, with every fact ending in its book and chapter: (B2, ch. 14).

  2. Check it against the page

    With the paperback beside you, correct what it misread in the editor, mark the series regulars as Key, and ask for a card element at the head of each one.

  3. Ask before you write the scene

    Ask what colour Mara’s eyes are and where you said so. It answers from the bible with the book and chapter, and leaves a proposed note where two books disagree.

  4. Share a spoiler-safe reader’s guide

    Have it draft a who’s who drawn only from the published books, rewrite each entry in your own voice, and Share it with the sections about book four left out.

Try this prompt

Your assistant, connected to know.sh (Claude, ChatGPT or a local model):

Using know.sh, read the manuscript of Book 2 I have given you, chapter by chapter. For every fact it establishes about a character, place or date, add a bullet to the matching section in the Characters, Places or Timeline documents on my Harrow Bay books shelf, ending with the book and chapter, for example “(B2, ch. 14)”. Record only what the text states, not what a character claims.

Your assistant, connected to know.sh (Claude, ChatGPT or a local model):

Using know.sh, read “Book 4 — chapter notes” on my Harrow Bay books shelf against the Characters, Places, Timeline and Rules of the series documents. Wherever a chapter note disagrees with an established fact, leave a proposed note on the chapter note quoting both lines and their books and chapters. Do not change any text.

Made with

ShelfDocumentYour AI assistantElementsProposed notesPublic link

See also