It’s that
time of the year again, time for retrospection. It has been a long year in many
respects, but I’ve been happy with my year as an author-publisher. There were
some highlights, like visiting WorldCon in August, and not so bad lowlights
that they would pull the entire year down.
I began the
year with a bang by publishing two P.I. Tracy Hayes books that I’d written back
to back at the end of the previous year. It was an intensive writing period and
after it my brain needed time to recharge. Not that I realised it at first. I
tried to write both of my ongoing series, Two-Natured London and the next Tracy
Hayes book, but both got stuck after a few chapters.
Instead of
pushing doggedly on, I decided to write something completely different. I’ve
had this idea of a book brewing at the back of my brain for a long time, and I gave it a try. The project occupied my time suitably for most of the
summer, and the writing process was interesting, not least because I aimed at a
longer book than what I usually write. I almost finished the book too,
reaching the climax of the story before I ran out of words. Basically,
something went wrong with the plot somewhere along the way, and until I’ve
figured out what it is and fixed it, I can’t finish the book. So far, I haven’t
done it.
But the
side project worked its magic on my brain and I managed to start writing the
next Two-Natured London book again. It was going well too, until I absolutely
had to write the fourth Tracy Hayes book – my brain is weird that way. This
time the stars aligned and it took less than a month to write it from the first
chapter I’d managed in the spring. P.I. with the Eye came out in November and
sold nicely enough for as long as the price was only $0.99. Now it’s slowed
down a bit. But more important than the sales for me was the knowledge that I’d
managed to see through one project this year from start to finish.
After the
book was published, I didn’t instantly return to the sixth Two-Natured London
book. Instead, I had an idea for a collection of Christmas stories set in the
Two-Natured London world, and set out to write them. I’ve never been all that
interested in writing short stories, but these I found easy and fun to write.
In no time at all I had six stories that make a nice little book. Since I
started the project so close to Christmas, it’s been a race with time to
get them out before it, but I think I can make it.
The only
lowlight of the year has been this blog that I haven’t managed to update with
the same regularity than before. Mostly I’ve recapped the books I’ve
read. It has been fun, but hasn’t provided enough posts. Still, all in all, the
year has been good. Two books written and four published. The next book is well
under way and will come out early next year. I can retire for the holidays and rest
until the next year. Thank you for following my year and I hope to see you next
year too.
***
How do
vampires spend Christmas? My short story collection Moonlight, Magic and Mistletoes, a Two-Natured London Christmas Special has six short stories, all
of them sweet, Christmassy and romantic. The opening story, Escape on a
Moonless Night, is the longest and is set in in 1660s France. In it, we learn
more about the past of the vampire lord Alexander Hamilton, the leader of the
warriors of the Crimson Circle. He’s forced to flee after marriage
negotiations turn sour, and he’s not fleeing alone. In other stories we meet
old and new characters from the Two-Natured London books, and follow how
vampires, humans, and shifters find love and Christmas magic in the unique two-natured
way. I’ll add a link to the collection here the moment it comes out. Stay
tuned. Until then, you can read the opening chapter here.
No comments:
Post a Comment