December 8, 2017
It's cold and snowy today up here in the Scottish Highlands. Just the kind of day for staying at home and writing. I'm in that weird place between books. It's not long since Madness Lies was published, and I've recently finished Deception, a psychological thriller set in Edinburgh. Although Deception is with my agent (you've no idea how long I've longed to be able to say the words 'my agent'), and has been passed to some publishers, I'm finding it hard to let go. Maybe it's because it's the novel I've most enjoyed writing so far. I love writing, and it's rarely a chore, but there are times when I get stuck. That didn't often happen with Deception. I loved the main character and the setting, and I still have that urge to go back and read it yet again, and maybe work on it some more. So, it's hard to move on to something else, but the ideas are coming, and it won't be long before I make a start. For now, I've gone back to my first (unpublished) novel, Breathing of the Vanished. It was written long before I turned to crime. Probably best described as contemporary fiction, it's mainly set in Edinburgh, Glasgow and North Uist. Despite the lack of crime, it's a fairly dark tale of the impact of the past upon our present choices and actions. Not just our own past, but our parents and grandparents, and beyond; times and places and people that we may never have heard of, but that are somehow etched into our subconscious and continue to influence us. Weird, eh? It's not all darkness. There's lots of humour and love and hope. I'm remembering now just how much I enjoyed writing it too. I have some new ideas to revive and update it, and maybe one day ... Best get on with it. I know I've not done what I said I'd do in my first blog - I haven't told you any more about the published books, In the Shadow of the Hill and Madness Lies. You're probably far more interested in those, than in an unpublished work that may never see the light of day. If so, apologies. I'll get back to them shortly. In the meantime, if you have any comments or questions, they're more than welcome. Have a wonderful weekend, folks, with or without the snow.
Winter in Inverness