Tracy Higley
Historical mystery author. 20+ novels published across traditional and indie.
How a 20-Year Veteran Finally Found AI That Works With Her Process
"I was really handing too much of it over to AI. I wasn't feeling my creativity kicking in. It was like I was on the sidelines while AI was pantsing it."
The Career Tracy Built
Tracy didn't need AI to become a writer. She'd mastered story structure over two decades — traditional publishing, then a successful indie career. She knew exactly what good looked like.
What Went Wrong
When she started experimenting with AI in early 2023, something went wrong. False starts on multiple projects. Plot holes multiplying during editing. Creative excitement fading.
For a self-described "off the charts plotter," watching an AI improvise her mysteries was disorienting.
She needed AI that would work with her 20-year process — not replace it with something unrecognizable.
The breakthrough came two weeks before her interview. Not a new technique — a return to fundamentals.
"Instead of making up a new process, and instead of copying anybody else's process, I just needed to use my process that I've always used for all my books for 20 some years. But then have the AI help me make it faster, better."
Plotdrive felt like Scrivener with AI built in. Her scene worksheet — the extensive document she'd used for years to plan each scene — now lives in Plotdrive as a template. She duplicates it for each scene, and instead of answering every question herself, she hits "Go" under each section.
The worksheet that once took hours now takes 30 minutes — and it's richer than anything she could produce alone.
Tracy's Process — Now AI-Augmented
Scene Worksheet Template
Her 20-year-old process, now a reusable template in Plotdrive
Duplicate Per Scene
Each scene gets its own worksheet instance
Hit "Go" Under Each Section
AI fills in the blanks — she stays in creative control
Refine and Write
30 minutes vs hours — and richer output
"It doesn't necessarily make me faster. But it's so much more fun and not nearly as draining, so I can go longer in the day."
The Impact
For a 20-year veteran, the transformation wasn't about learning to write — it was about reclaiming the joy of writing.
The Clarissa Bell Mysteries
"Hieroglyphs and Homicide was my best launch performance ever — 275 reviews in 6 weeks, #8 in Amazon Historical Mysteries."
Book 2 published two weeks after her interview. Book 3 on pre-order with three scenes already drafted.
She's now planning to toggle between her lighter mystery series and her passion projects — the time-travel books, the Michelangelo novel — because she finally has the energy architecture to sustain both.
What Readers Are Saying
The Clarissa Bell Mysteries
Historical mysteries crafted with 20 years of expertise, now AI-augmented.
Follow her work at her Author Website.
The Takeaway
"I just needed to use my process that I've always used. But then have the AI help me make it faster, better."
AI doesn't have to replace your process. It can reveal what your process could always become.