Hello from the North West!
Well, autumn is officially upon us here, August ended with a particularly soggy note. Not that I’ve spent much time outside, it’s all hands to the pump – my hands at least!
As I mentioned in my last newsletter this, and future notes for the foreseeable, will cover the mechanics of the new book I’m writing to give a bit of insight as to how, what and when. Originally, I was going to work on the next Gray novel (The Silent Dead will be published on 17th September). However, I’ve decided to work instead on a completely new series in conjunction with my editor / agent. This isn’t to say Sol won’t return – he certainly will (he’s left with a bit of a problem at the end of the new book).
The reason for something new is constraint – the characters, Gray in particular, restrict to a certain degree the subject matter and style I write in. As Lee Child says, books in a series should be, “Different, but the same.”
The Konstantin series is a good case in point – he’s a totally different character (ex-KGB officer in hiding) as is the narrative style – short, punchy sentences. The underlying similarity is, of course, Margate.
So, at the moment I’m in an outlining phase. When I’m working on a new novel that’s all I do – write, write, edit, edit. I try hard not to think about the next idea to distract myself. Once the finished manuscript goes off to the editor for a good kicking I swing into the marketing phase – there’s a lot to get ready to publish a book – blurb, cover, author quotes, the mechanics of setting up on Amazon. The list goes on (quite a bit).
Then the MS comes back from editing and I’ll take a week or so to implement everything before it goes for a final copy edit. When the updated MS returns again I check and implement the suggestions. This whole stage can take four to six weeks. It’s good down time and that’s when I’ll settle into the thinking and outlining.
I tend to have a piece of paper to hand and jot down a few ideas, then put them into a word document and just build as I go. I’ll bounce a couple of ideas off friends and my wife but usually this is a solo process as I pull together a five or six page list of character motives, key events and actual chapters.
Not this time.
In a big change a couple of days ago a handful of ideas went to my editor, Al – three events which drive the new story I'm considering, three events over which the protagonist has no control. Thankfully, Al liked the approach so next I pulled together a two page outline, just focusing on the main key events. The beginning and middle are nicely fleshed out, the end is simply a conclusion at this stage; there’s still a fair bit to flesh out for the protagonist to actually achieve his goal.
Right now (literally) I’m waiting for feedback from Al. Theoretically the more time we spend on the preparation, the writing ‘should’ be faster. In the past I barely outlined at all. I’d write maybe 90 – 100,000 words and end up with a 60,000 word novel because so much of the text was useless. That’s a very time consuming and frustrating way to operate, believe me… The trouble is I always itch to get going.
Anyway, I’ll be back in touch soon with an update. In the meantime here’s the cover for the new Gray to keep you going!
And, I'm always happy to chat, feel free to drop me a line either here or in my closed Facebook group.
All the best.
Keith
May Newsletter
Welcome to my regular newsletter and I hope you're well. Feedback from my last note was mainly about Mack, our 15-month-old Wire Fox Terrier. He's the first dog we've ever owned and we got him when he was 12 weeks old. Little did we know what we were letting ourselves in for... despite having had three children (they're 19, 14 & 11 now so the baby stuff is a dim memory) the need to get up in the middle of the night for him to go to the toilet was a shock.
Terriers are quite intelligent, which basically we now know means they get their noses into everything. He's a chaser, throw anything and Mack will go after it. However, that doesn't necessarily mean he'll bring it back! And if there's a distraction nearby when he's off the lead then he does tend to chase the shiny, interesting stuff rather than come back...
This is Mack the day we brought him home with my youngest.
More on Mack in the next newsletter!
Books
Unsurprisingly, books are quite important (I think!). There's a few I've been lucky enough to read in advance of publication. First and foremost is MW Craven's second Washington Poe novel titled Black Summer. It's out 20th June - read the blurb HERE.
And there's newcomer Noelle Holten with her debut Dead Inside an interesting police procedural. It's out 31st May and is just 99p at the moment.
Finally is Howard Linskey who writes noir and police procedurals but has recently shifted into WW2 thrillers with Ungentlemanly Warfare. Well worth a read...
Is there anything you'd recommend to me right now?
Writing
I write in my spare time, I have to with a family and a busy job (I'm a Sales Director for a US business). Usually first thing in the morning before anyone is up. In the evening I do the admin and marketing stuff (like this letter).
As a self publisher all of the non-writing stuff sits with me, so it's a balancing act. I tend to enjoy talking to people, so sometimes writing suffers (stupidly). The sixth Gray novel is in process and definitely a bit back seat.
The 5th Gray, Pity The Dead, is published 20th May. But enough of that for now...
To finish, here's another Mack pic...
And if you want to see more of him he has an account on Instagram called Mack and the Humans (that's us).
April Newsletter
Hello from the North West!
I hope you're well and enjoyed the fantastic weekend weather. There's not been a cloud in the sky here, which is unusual on the edge of the Peak District. As usual, this is my monthly musing.
Books I've Been Reading
Sadly, this is a rather short list, I just don't have the time these days with all the writing. Recently I finished Unnatural Causes by Dr Richard Shepherd - he's a pathologist and this is an outline of his work history. Looking forward there's Black Summer by MW Craven coming soon and Dead Inside by Noelle Holten. I read an early ARC of the former and it's great and I've an early copy of the latter too.
TV
Well, there's some stunning stuff on TV right now. Series 5 of Line of Duty and series eight of Game of Thrones have been keeping us entertained. Other stuff we're enjoying is Sex Education on Netflix (a surprisingly good story of teenage angst)and another surprise has been the sometimes gruesome Santa Clarita Diet.
A New Book
Gray 5, titled Pity The Dead, will be out on May 20th. It would have been a week earlier but I'm in Germany at an exhibition and one thing I learned from launching The Nudge Man was not to do so when distracted by another event (it was my 50th when Nudge came out).
In this latest installment, Gray discovers that junkies are dying but nobody really cares. There's a brutal new gang in town, replacing the bunch Gray arrested in 'Bury The Bodies' and Gray is trying to find his way in. I'll drop you a line around the launch with all the links.
Special Offers
I've several special offers running right now:
- The Konstantin box set (three books) is a ridiculous £2.99 / $3.99 or free on Kindle Unlimited. Pick it up HERE.
- The Gray four book box set is also free on KU HERE.
- The Eagle's Shadow is the first in a series about the Roman invasion of Britain which started not too far from Margate. It's 99p / 99c. find it HERE.
- The Nudge Man is down to £1.99, and is HERE.
As always, please feel free to drop me a line, I'm happy to talk. Otherwise, have a great week and all the best.
The Dog
You may recall me mentioning Mack, our dopey Wire Fox. Here he is (below) again...
All the best.
Keith
