Friday 28 January 2011

New book last lap

The best thing, or I suppose the only thing about this horrible weather is that I'm stuck indoors with no choice but to get on and write. The new book is now called "Tangled Retribution" unless I find there is another title out there the same or similar. Once again Emily and husband Tom are involved in tragic events beyond their control. How unlucky are this pair. Four unrelated brutal murders and it seems there's a crazy phycho on the loose. Is Emily a target? The scene ranges from Hampshire to London docklands via Zurich and Melbourne Australia. Journalist detective Dave Manning is two jumps ahead of the police but will he arrive in time to save Emily and her baby? I'm on the last lap with this novel nearly all written during January this year. But it's shorter than my other books at around 50 000 words. Then comes the hard bit. Re-reading, correcting and improving.

Monday 24 January 2011

Book in progress

I'm now 35000 words into my new project. It's a traditional detective whodunnit and the hardest thing I've tried to date. You have to tie everything together: dates and times have to be consistent. This will be my shortest book and I'm already starting to pull all the threads together. I knew from page 20 who the murderer was but I let the story flow naturally. I'm not really into pre-planning. I haven't a title so far. Most of the book is set in my county Hampshire but there is an episode in Melbourne. I've had a bit of fun at the expense of Australians but then they do that to us  anyway with interest.

Writing is the easy part. Next year I will try and sell this one if I still think it's good enougth.

Tuesday 18 January 2011

New novel ideas

If you are writing novels often finding an idea that gets you started can be a real problem. I had my book Flanagan's Legacy sitting in a file for nearly twenty years. It's a Dan Brown type conspiracy novel set in 1994. I pulled it out and rewrote parts until I was happy with it.

But people kept asking if I was going to write another book in the series about the Simpson sailing family.
I knew I should but I was stuck for an idea. At the end of Olympic Nemesis we left gold medal winner Emily married and expecting her baby. Then out of the blue came the idea. I was watching the TV  series One Born every Minute the fly on wall series set in a maternity unit. Well why not start a book with the birth of Emily's baby? One thing I've never done is write a traditional whodunnit detective novel. That is a murder, clues, red herrings false leads and then the revelation at the end. So then came the story. A yacht skipper throws a long distance race for money. Shortly after this he is murdered. The man is no loss as he's a violent sexual predator. We are in a murky world of billionaire supermarket chiefs and Swiss business tycoons. Emily thinks she knows who did the murder. But is she right and do subsequent events make the story much more complicated? Watch this space of better still read the book when it's ready.

Tuesday 11 January 2011

Tw New Books

My latest novel Flanagan's Legacy is now ready for proof reading. It's a novel of conspiracy with a piece of old history coming back to haunt a young couple unborn at the time of the event. You will enjoy the exciting sailing scenes culminating in a force 10 gale and a dramatic sea rescue.  See more details on my website.

I've now started a 4th novel in the series following the sailing Simpson family and their daughter Emily.
Emily has her new baby, her career at law and her Olympic gold medal. What more could there be to trouble this unlucky family? Then a skipper accused of throwing a yacht race for money is murdered and Emily thinks she can identify the murderer.