Tag Archives: thriller

Back from my mini-sabbatical

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So I did the unthinkable (in blogging terms) and took a mini-sabbatical. Anyone who has read the ever-expanding number of books on platform and being an author/entrepreneur in the current world will gasp in horror that I just stopped blogging for a while. But I had a couple of reasons which made sense to me.

Firstly, I had more important stuff to do. Like finishing the actual book, looking after my health, supporting my family through a difficult and intense period. All of which came above trying to spend a couple of hours on a blog about 15 ways to groom your cat or whatever. Or how to use your cat as part of your marketing strategy. Damn, that might have been a good one. I might change the title and see how many more click throughs that gets…

Secondly, in a similar vein to the above, I didn’t actually have massive amounts of stuff to share. I like doing the practical ‘how to’ style posts on writing, but there are plenty of people out there who are already doing those. They’re making a living from it in fact (or they’re pretending they are) and that’s not what I want to compete with. I don’t want to only talk to other writers, or those with writerly aspirations. I write fiction. I want to connect with readers. They tend to care less about using your cat for marketing. They just want to know your cat’s name and if he’s going to appear in your next book.

However, I am at that point now where I do (yay) finally have some things to share. The publish date for the next Teddie McKay novel has been set for August 27th, so things can finally begin ramping up here again. I’m also going to run a couple of promos for the other books, so look out for those too. The follow up to The Crochet Killer is a little more lighthearted, so has been a lot of fun to write.

I hope you’ll find it as much fun to read.

 

The End

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I’m taking a short break from the final chapter of the second instalment of the Teddie McKay detective series. Now the end is so close, I am at that mix of excitement  combined with the sadness that it is over. There will no doubt be many changes between this version and the one which finally gets published, but there is only ever one true moment of ‘The End’ when writing a book.

Of course, I won’t be able to relish it for long. As soon as I’ve allowed myself a brief moment to celebrate (maybe with a glass of wine), my mind will begin to think other projects. The pull of the bright and shiny new has been strong for a couple of weeks, but I have managed to resist it. You know when the end is near. You start to get a new plot idea roughly every thirty seconds and you are convinced it is the best story since Eve tempted Adam with the apple. When you go back later to those hastily scribbled notes, most of them are rubbish, or absurd, or just plain weird. They were just there to distract you in that moment of weakness to stop you from finishing. Anyone who has read The War of Art knows that feeling of distraction.

(Doing this blogpost is probably exactly the same thing, but at least I know it won’t take up more than thirty minutes of my time. You’re getting the rough and ready content here people. Otherwise the Wordpress time suck will be the death of me.)

Tomorrow morning I will be writing something new. In a completely different genre. My mind may struggle to adjust for a while, but I’m going back to work with some characters I already know well. I’m looking forward to playing with them again. Teddie can go back in her box for a few weeks until I have to do structural edits on her. Which just sounds plain creepy. I assure you it’s not.

Probably.

Do your characters ever refuse to do what you tell them to do?

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This is definitely a question for the writers rather than the readers out there.

Sometimes it really does seem like characters are living, breathing entities with a mind of their own.

I’m hands down a planner when it comes to writing, as I’ve frequently discussed. So, on the whole, I’m not waiting for inspiration to strike in order to know what my character is going to do next. I’ve already done that kind of plotting by the time I put the first sentence on the screen. Yet sometimes, despite my best intentions, at certain points in the novel, I find my characters wanting to do something other than what I have intended for them.

Cue a tug of war between me and them. Given that both exist solely in my head, if it wasn’t part of the writing process it would clearly be a psychiatric disorder of some sort.

Some people argue that if the character isn’t completely under your writerly control, then it is merely a symptom of poor planning. I think that can sometimes be the case, but not always. After all, part of the joy of writing is the excitement of finding out what happens next. Even with deep structure and plot points, you never know until you start writing how the words are going to line up on the paper. You don’t know what new influences you will be exposed to as part of the process. After all, for most people it takes at least six months to do a first draft. Sometimes it can take years. It would be foolish to expect not to have changes in perspective during that time.

For me, working on book two of one series and book four of another, the more I go along, the more likely these characters seem to want to play their own game. Perhaps it is because as they become more rounded they become more real. Perhaps it is because that the arc I originally envisaged for them is changing. Or maybe, when you create independent women who you love because they do whatever the hell they want, then sometimes they might just do that right back at you.

I didn’t want the Teddie McKay series to be more romance than cheeky, cheesey crime with some thriller tension thrown in there. Yet, as book two draws to a close, she seems determined to have a some fun. In my head, saying ‘aw come on, how about you let me live a little, huh?’

It might not be in the plan, but you know what? I think I might just let her…

New Novel: The Crochet Killer

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I’m delighted to be able to introduce my new novel, The Crochet Killer, which has been released today.

Crochet Killer Cover

The Crochet Killer at Amazon.co.uk

The Crochet Killer at Amazon.com

I’ve had a lot of fun writing this, even if it is a book with some dark moments. I absolutely love the characters and have had a great time making them do what I wanted them to do (and sometimes vice versa).

This is the first book in the series which introduces Detective Teddie McKay, getting ahead in Robbery-Homicide in a city that has infinitely more of the former than the latter. In over her head, with a serial killer on the loose, she has no choice but to rely on other people instead of her gut instinct. Nicknamed The Crochet Killer by the media, the man certainly has a gift for needlework. It’s just a shame that his canvases of choice are the faces of the women he hunts and kills.

Of course, as the body count rises, people are bound to question if she is up to the task. In her darkest moments alone, beer in hand, she’s having doubts herself. The Chief is under pressure and he’s more than happy to pass some of that along. He’s even made sure that one of the best forensic investigators in the country, Kathryn Greene, joins the team to make sure they’re not missing anything.

There is no escape from her lack of success. The case is on rolling rotation on the TV news, where the face of her ex-girlfriend Tammy Johnson is a constant reminder of the other failures in her life too. When Tammy reappears in her life, Teddie finds it hard to believe that she’s not there just for the story. Is she willing to risk letting her back in if it means she will lose this case for good if anyone finds out?

And what else is she prepared to risk to finally bring The Crochet Killer to justice?

Crochet Killer Cover

 

 

Line Edits Are Done

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I can feel the tingle of fear beginning to build as the line edits are now completed on my first ‘to be published’ novel. This means the last few little bits need to be tweaked, the marketing and promo content pulled together into a cohesive package and then it will be good to go.

My next post will probably detail more about the book itself, but for now let me say that the characters have been fun ones to write. The biggest issue so far between the people I’ve sent it to has been the name of the main character. At this point, it is still subject to change. Which is kind of awkward.

It is actually really easy to self-publish something these days. There are no barriers to entry as long as you have a computer, a little bit of technological savvy and a bank account for your hard earned royalties. There are posts scattered all over the internet reiterating this. The freedom is both a blessing and a curse. If you want to put up something you are proud of, then it actually takes a lot of hard work and you have to treat it as though you are all the parts of the traditional publishing process. This takes time. Commitment. Help from others where possible. And while you are doing that, more and more books continue to flood the market, making it harder to stand out.

So for this one, I have some aspirations, a few goals I would like to hit. Nothing more than that. No delusions that despite the hard work this is going to be a best seller or a masterpiece of literature. It’s not meant to be. It is a fun crime drama with an appeal to a certain market. If they like it, then that’s good enough. As long as one other person gets as much pleasure out of it as I did, then each one of those pesky line edits will have been worth it.