Missing

Let’s face it, when it comes to writing a blog I’m not very consistent. Some people seem to be able to find something to write about every day whereas I manage a post every couple of months. It’s not that I’m being lazy. I have a house to maintain, three children to feed, clothe and transport, and a full-time day job, so my writing time is restricted. When I do get to write I need to put out a weekly article for my newspaper column and I always have a novel on the go so I’m afraid blogging comes a poor third.

It’s novels I want to talk about today. I have some good news for those of you who are kind enough to read my books.  The first draft of, “Missing”, the sixth in the Steph and Dean detective series, is done. I’ve typed the final period, read it through twice and it’s now with my proofreader who will no doubt cover it with red ink. That’s not a problem, it happens with every book I write. I shall get it back in a few days and look at the changes she suggests. Usually I accept most of those concerning spelling, grammar and the overuse of certain words but I hope I’ve managed to avoid a lot of the latter this time. I specifically looked for the redundant “that’s” and took out as many uses of “had” as I could. I’m sure she’ll find other instances though, she’ll also want to clarify certain passages and I know she’ll comment on my use of adverbs. She adheres to the Stephen King “Adverbs-are-bad” school of thought whereas I like to think they are necessary in some places.

Anyway, making the corrections usually only takes me a few days and then the manuscript will go back to be proof read again for any final changes. Once these are done I’ll read it through one last time and, as long as I’m happy with it and the cover is ready, it will go for printing. It’s a long process but I can promise you that it will be available as a paperback and an e-book well before Christmas.

So, with that done, what’s next? Well, I have several projects in the pipeline. The prologue for a follow up to my novel “Hessians” is already written, as is the first chapter of an, as yet, untitled sci-fi, time-travel novel. The second book in the “Liberty” series is already at 60,000 words and has been on the back burner for a while. I have ideas for a couple of modern-day thrillers and yet another Steph and Dean as well as a possible short story collection.

I guess I have a lot of options. My only constraint is time to do them and so I’m going to finish this and get back to one of them….but which one? Any reasonable requests will be considered.