Thanksgiving

It’s the third Thursday in November. Over here in the United States of course that means it’s Thanksgiving, the day we remember the first harvest celebration in Massachusetts back in the year 1621.

I guess there are relatively few in this country who actually do celebrate for that reason these days but that’s okay, today Thanksgiving is an opportunity for people to get together to eat, drink and be merry. Like so many others across this country we will be going out to a family meal soon but, while we wait for kids to get ready, I thought it appropriate to give thanks for some of the important things in my life.

I’m thankful for my wife and all my family, both here in America and over in England of course, and for my home, my co-workers and my friends. I’m thankful for the food we are going to eat, the wine I will drink and the good company we’ll enjoy this afternoon.

I’m thankful for having the day off work and doubly so because I have tomorrow off too. I’m thankful I will not be getting out of bed at some unearthly hour tomorrow in order to take part in the craziness that is Black Friday and for the coming weekend with nothing planned but to relax.

Relaxing for me means an opportunity to do what I love best, to write. I’m thankful for the ideas that whirl round in my head and demand to be put down on paper, for the ability to put them down coherently, for those who taught me the art of writing and those who have helped, supported and encouraged me as I developed my writing.

Last, but by no means least, I am truly thankful for you, the people who read this blog, follow my work and buy my books, without you my efforts would be in vain and my stories would just sit and gather dust.

Thank you and happy Thanksgiving to you all

BROKEN PROMISES

I started this year with such good intentions. I believe in an early blog I promised up to four new books by Christmas, one in the spring, two in the summer and one in the fall. Those of you who follow this blog and read my stories will no doubt realize that hasn’t happened.

Up until last weekend the only new book out there was ‘Liberty’, a Revolutionary War romance-adventure. That has now been joined by ‘The Prince’s Puzzle’, a seventeenth century detective story set against the background of the English Civil War, currently available from Amazon and on Kindle for a very reasonable price.

The other two books I so foolishly promised were ‘The Sins of the Father’ and ‘Cheating’.

The first of these is a sequel to ‘The Lichfield Conspiracy’ and, with luck and a fair wind, it may actually make it for Christmas. It has already had a major rewrite, been edited twice, undergone a second rewrite and is now with my editor for a final read through. I guess the only thing that might stop its publication is the hunt for a suitable cover picture but I am working on that between writing articles, visiting England, doing a full-time day job and suffering from what my wife laughingly calls “man-flu”.

With all of that going on of course ‘Cheating’, the fifth in the popular Dean and Steph detective series, has had to take a back burner. The initial draft is more than half done but writing, editing and producing a novel is a long process. I’d like to think it will be ready for spring of 2016 but who knows what else might come up and, after this year of broken promises I am not prepared to give a definite date.

For this I apologize, I know there are many of you out there who like Dean and Steph and who have been asking for the next book. I guarantee it will come, and there may even be a sixth one too but for now I’m not making any more promises.