August is here
July saw me take a two week holiday in my little Campervan and a good portion of that was spent on Skye - if you’ve been following me for long enough you’ll know I’ve been before. I make no apology for going back to places that I love, especially when, like Skye, they have a piece of my heart.
This is the view from my pitch in Dunvegan, where it was gloriously warm, too warm in fact for anything as energetic as walking, so instead I sat at my table and wrote. I could have sold everything and lived in that pitch forever.
Time away from home and work are essential for me to help relax and rest my mind and as a result I’m able to achieve new creative thoughts and get projects off the ground.
So what’s my brain been working on? Well, I finally finished the last round of edits for Lies She Didn’t Tell, which enabled me to get it on pre-order when I went home. - Have you got your copy yet? If not here’s the link Publication date is 11th August. And on the day I’ll be sharing some videos recorded with other crime writers so make sure you keep your eyes on my social medias. There might also be some prizes!
In the last two weeks I’ve been working on the next draft of book 5 in the Rowan McFarlane series - Wrong From The Start and that is booked into my editor for the end of August (when I will once again be on holiday).
I also revisited a past project on my holiday - a book and character that I feel need to get out there, but they’ve not been quite right. I’ve been given lots of feedback and ideas on what needs to change, but none of it felt right. Mark Stay, author, film writer and co-host of the Best Seller Experiment Podcast (which I highly recommend you checking out btw) has said that when you get feedback from an editor that something isn’t right you should believe them, but that it doesn’t mean just doing what they suggest. In a rather wet walk along a section of the West Highland Way I figured out a way to achieve what I wanted to with the character whilst taking on board all the feedback about what wasn’t working.
I’ve also started on a new project, a brand new series, a police procedural, which I’m super excited about. Plus I had an idea for what could either be the second in this series or a standalone and a new book for Rowan (likely book 7).
And I think that’s just about enough to keep me going with writing projects for the rest of the year.
This year I’m finally going to Bloody Scotland. I’ve been before but not for a while and I’m very excited. If you haven’t got tickets yet I strongly suggest you pop over to their website and have a look. Can’t get to Stirling - no problem there’s a tonne of digital passes or a digital pass for the whole thing (doesn't cover every event).
I’m also going to be using this time to catch up with writerly friends some of whom I know IRL and some only through SM but I already have a couple of lunch dates lined up and I can’t wait to be talking all things writing and all things crime.
One of my 2023 goals was to get my books into libraries across the country/world. All you need to do to borrow my book from your library is pop in or go online depending how high tech your library is and ask to borrow one of my books (full length novels only) and if they don’t have it, they’ll order it in.
Share your photos of you with my book from your local library and I’ll put all the names in a hat at the end of the year for a prize.