I’m not sure about you, but I can’t imagine you’d really want to hear from me unless I had anything approaching news, which explains the radio silence for a wee while now. Anyway, unless I’ve had a change of heart, then that preamble should warn you that I do have something to haunt your inbox with.
So here it is – I’ve just finished writing the third GRACE book, and have now sent it out to my dear Red Pen Brigade who are very kindly working though it to spot all of those repugnant typos and irritating sentences where I forget to add a crucial.
It’s going to be called THE GALLOWS DROP, and as you can see from the screenshot (spoiler!) not only does it feature the return of the Graces, but also the return of another old favourite, who is proving as persistent as athlete’s foot, and barely as palatable.
I’m currently at that “just handed in my homework” stage, where I can’t shake the feeling that everything about it is wrong, and with just the right about of nudging in one corner, the whole thing will fall down, much like the time I tried to build a shed after the instructions had blown away. However, I’ve had some positive feedback this week, so my delicate ego has got just enough air under its wings to coast me to the weekend, at least.
It's been a disappointing year so far with my writing. SLATER’S PIT, which I am incredibly proud of, suffered thanks to the bizarre hiccups of the all-powerful Amazon algorithm. For some inexplicable reason, the super-computer decided to throttle all reviews, which, as you will likely now, completely hamstrings any chance a book has of being noticed by readers in the massive lottery of “search” and “recommend”. I have to be honest, and tell you that this was pretty crushing, as, after spending months on something you have such high hopes for, it’s a bitter pill to swallow, especially as there is no right of reply, and you essentially just have to swallow it, or just send increasingly frustrated emails to the Amazon robot. Maybe if you haven’t read it yet, you’d consider it – it’s a change of pace to the GRACE books, certainly, with a different kind of story, but, as I say, I’m really proud of it, and I’d like to think I’ll be able to get my head in the right place to tell that kind of story again in the future.
As for THE GALLOWS DROP, I wanted it to be fast, exciting and tense, and hopefully readers will think so as well. I’m going to be tweaking it and giving it a last polish and kick the wheels once I receive notes from those kind enough to help me with an early read, and then get the cover organised, ready for release most likely in mid-August. Don’t worry, I’ll remind you when it’s released!
Thanks for reading, as ever. Feel free to drop me a line by reply, or on any of my socials, and I’ll get back to you.
I really enjoyed slaters pit, different from the two 'grace' books.... but I am looking forward to reading number 3.. and if you do publish in August I will take it as a birthday present 🎁 good luck with the proof reads 📚 😉 👍