Re-issue of What Happens at Christmas

 Some of you may have noticed that I have a Christmas Book out. Apparently it is 10 weeks until Christmas and retailers are already gearing up - and that includes the publishing industry. 

A warning note THIS IS A RE-ISSUE. If you bought it/read it first time around you don't need to do it again. Unless you want to, of course. 

When it first appeared in 2018 it looked like this.

I have to say that this is one of my favourite covers as it reflects elements of the book - the hut and the Welsh scenery - the result of some collaboration between me and cover designer Berni. 

It now looks like this 

Much more dramatic, but not quite so connected to the book. It says thriller and festive though, which are the main elements. It also has a love story - romantic suspense, remember - and it actually contains two Christmases because the story stretches over a whole year, and naturally the course of true love doesn't run smoothly. 

It's out now at a special e-book price of 99p/99c and you can read it on Kindle unlimited, if you have a subscription. 

If you don't have it in your collection, now is a good time. 

New Looks?

 You may have noticed that the first three of the Riviera series are out as a box set and a special price with a brand new cover for the set. Very summery - in keeping with the current weather. 

You can get them on Amazon - and also as part of your Kindle Unlimited subscription. 

There will be more news later this week too on another re-issue, with a brand new cover.  I'll keep you posted. 

From the Archive

 I'm having a busy week this week - mostly boring medical stuff, so I've delved into the archive for this week's post. October 2013 - ten years ago. I was considering the part of my brain that writes the sinister stuff. I'm currently experimenting with a new idea that takes me back to the darker elements that I was writing when I began on this journey. I've tried it out at a writers' workshop, where I got positive and very useful comments. There is a lot of work to do, but I shall keep going and see where it takes me. 

As we have passed the Equinox and are heading into the darkest part of the year here in the Northern hemisphere, the revisited post seems appropriate. 

Into the Dark ...

When you write thrillers your books have to be ...well, thrilling. Which means tapping into the dark side. We're not talking a walk in the park here, at least, not unless it's midnight and there's a serial killer lurking behind that tree.

There, you see what I mean - if you write stuff that is intended to be thrilling then you tend to see the world - well, let's say your perspective is a bit skewed. Nothing is innocent, everything is potentially dangerous. There is usually some form of crime involved and your protagonists should be under some sort of threat.

To write that stuff, you have to go somewhere ...

I don't actually know where that is. I suppose it must somehow feed off  bad experiences that have happened in life, although I'm rarely aware of drawing on anything specific. I like to think I am a reasonably nice person, but give me a pen and paper ...

Conjuring up the scary and the gory isn't easy, but when the thing is working, in a perverse way, it can be a lot of fun. Now call me weird. You won't be the first.

Writing books is an exercise in fantasy, although that term tends to be applied these days only to stories with elves in them. Writers live in two worlds simultaneously. Here - and somewhere else entirely. It's solely inside your head, and that can be dark as well as light. Maybe there is an element of adrenaline junkie too. If you write it, you feel it. And now we're back to the 'fun' again.

I like writing the dark stuff, although I run a mile from it in real life. But, and it's a very significant but, my black stuff has to be tempered by a fully realised romance. Not just an add-on love affair. That's why I write Romantic Suspense. If I'm walking on the scary side I have to have the payoff of a hopeful ending and a new beginning to look forward to.

If I'm going into the dark, I have to know that something good is going to be waiting on the other side.

According to plan?

 I spent a productive half hour train journey a few weeks ago drawing a location plan of a house and garden on a headland somewhere in Wales. It is fictitious, hence the need for a plan. I'm trying to get the story straight in my mind and having done timelines I realised I needed a map as the location was a hole in my thoughts. 

I'll also want a house plan and one of the garden, but I'll get to that. They are for me and I doubt if I'll ever share them anywhere, but it made me think of a discussion a little while ago in the Crime Writers' Association magazine, Red Herrings, on the value, or not, of plans, cast lists and family trees appended to books for illumination of readers.  Some liked them, others didn't. All a matter of taste. 

As a device used now, they sometimes have an old fashioned feel - I recall a number of Agatha Christie novels with floor plans as part of the text. - they would be an authentic touch for current cosy crime books that have an historical setting. I know I have found a cast list very useful when there are a lot of characters involved and a family tree can be invaluable to work out who is related to who - they usually appear in multi generational family sagas. 

The big difficulty these days is, of course, reading electronically. If any or all of these reader aids appear in a book they will be at the beginning. In a paper book there is no problem in flipping back for a quick look - a bit more complicated keeping your place on a reading device. 

Maybe this will mean that the practice eventually dies out? I think it would be a loss if it does. It doesn't suit every book, but if the author feels that it adds to the story, then why not?

The power of tea?

 I'm late with today's post. Apologies to those who have been waiting with bated breath. I had rather a stressful day yesterday so didn't wake up until late and then couldn't resist listening to Just One Thing on the radio before I actually got up.  I'm functioning now, sort of. I have brushed my hair, so we'll call that a win. 

Just One Thing is a Radio 4 half hour, with Michael Mosley where he considers a relatively small thing that you might do to increase your well being and live longer. If we do them all we will presumably live forever, but I'm still trying to get to grips with brushing my teeth while standing on one leg. Good for your balance apparently. 

Today the topic was drinking tea. All sorts of benefits from keeping calm, to helping your bones and stuff to do with concentration and learning. I was still a bit dozy when listening so if you want to know more you can listen to the episode by downloading it. 

I was pleased to know though that it was good for me, as I drink about six or seven cups a day - all sorts of varieties, including one that tastes of toffee.  I was also amused as Elliott, the hero of the latest Riviera book, Masquerade on the Riviera, is a tea drinker. Oolong for choice. He can be a bit of a show-off at times. These academics! Good to know that the learning and creativity stuff  of tea suits him.  

It also seems that the advice that was so often given in papers to do with morale that I waded through for the PhD was actually sound. Tea does have a calming effect. 

Off now to make myself another cup! 

Tools of the trade

 Attending conferences held by your professional organisations - in my case the Romantic Novelists and the Crime Writers - is a chance to acquire or hone skills. At the recent RNA event many writers were thrilled to be exploring the delights of Canva  and Scrivener. Me? No way. The description of how Scrivener works has me hiding my head in a hole and my one attempt of Canva ditto. I'll settle for pen and ink and Bookbrush, thanks. I seem to be able to find my way around the latter fairly well and the pen and paper stuff I've been doing since I was six. 

The differences in style made me think about how one uses the tools of the trade. Over my many many years in the RNA New Writers' Scheme I attended many workshops and seminars on 'How-to'. Some of the tutors in the dim and distant days in the beginning could be quite prescriptive  - not quite 'My way or the Highway' but very much - 'this is what you must do'. One of the things I learned in my long apprenticeship was - 'My brain doesn't do it like that'. 

I do have some quirks but mostly I'm an organic sort of writer - start at the beginning with a biro and a pile of scrap paper and then keep going.  I've used mind maps  ever since writing essays in the sixth form, but then I didn't know what they were or that they were even a 'thing',  I'm big on time lines - which is weird as for an historian I'm dreadful at dates. I have to know when people were born and if necessary die, and must get the generational things right if, as at the moment, I'm playing with a multi generational script. I live in horror of suddenly discovering that someone had a baby at twelve years old - not impossible, I know, but not in the current context. 

Something I also do is a bit of interrogation - not the kind where you have a list of questions like first pet or best friend in school and yes, that is one of the techniques I have been recommended and failed dismally at  - I go back to a question my Mum used to ask - probably when I was being annoying. 'What's your problem?' They always do have a problem, and if they don't you know that needs fixing. 

I'm currently doing it for a whole new series of characters.

Works for me. 

The difficult second book

 I've seen a couple of posts/articles about this topic lately and it got me pondering. I never had the problem as my then publisher took both the books I had - finalists in American contests, so with a track record - and the second book was actually the first written. It was a paranormal that came out of nowhere and I have not been tempted to try one since. I am tinkering with some supernatural/spooky stuff  for the WIP- just a little bit witchy - we'll have to see how that turns out - it's just a sub plot/thread, not the whole story. Anyway, back to second book syndrome. When you think about it logically, there are perfectly reasonable explanations for doubts that have nothing to do with a superstition about the book's place in the running order. 

Conditioning - how often have you been told about 'the difficult second book'?

Deadlines - you have maybe been working on that first book for a long time. Now you have to produce to someone else's (probably shorter) time table.  

Expectations - now you have something to live up to. You have readers (we hope) and have been edited. You now have other people in the room with you, as well as your characters. Other people with agendas. And you don't want to disappoint them. 

Book One may have been 'the book of your heart' - the one you always wanted to write. Now like a certain famous Doctor, you have to find yourself another heart. 

It can be done. Writing books is hard. It's work. Don't let anyone tell you different - and if you ask any published author, whether they are on book five or book fifty, they will probably  tell you that the book they are currently writing is rubbish. The next one will be better - of course. 

We have high expectations - which is how it should be. Readers deserve the best. We just have to hang on in there and give it to them.