Next – BOTTLENECK (Cullen 5) / SHOT THROUGH THE HEART paperback…

So, that’s SHOT THROUGH THE HEART out of my hands and onto your Kindles, and the paperback should be out in the next week or so, [I’ve gone Kindle-exclusive on this, so if you’re an iBooks or Nook or Kobo or whatever user, then sorry, but that’s just the way it is] – the paperback is on the Createspace store now https://www.createspace.com/4504848.
My attention has turned to BOTTLENECK, Cullen no 5.
This little bugger has been nagging away at the back of my skull for over a year now. It was as I was pulling together the final novel-length outline for FIRE IN THE BLOOD that I stumbled across the central idea. It’s taken a wee while to get round to writing it – the working lifestyle change, plus publishing another two books has delayed my Cullen schedule a bit. I’m pleased with the core ideas now and it’s going really well.
Where I’m at is the outline stage. As I’ve explained so many times before, I’m an Architect when it comes to writing [[George RR Martin link]] and I like to get a really tight outline done before I start writing properly. It’s probably come from my experience in bands – it’s much more cost-efficient to have practised the hell out of a song before you go to a £25/hour studio to record than to go into a studio and jam some ideas together. As it stands, I’ve got 52 actions, of which I’ve done thirteen. Some are tiny, some are quite big and will spawn many other actions, but it’s all just putting flesh on the skeleton now. The core story is nailed, just got a few bits and bobs to add here and there, some jokes, subplots and so on.
I think I’ve mentioned a few times that I’m going to do NaNoWriMo to finish it. Well, the stars aren’t aligning here… I think I’ve got another week or so before this outline is perfect and then I’m on holiday for a week. It’s been a bit of a bloody nightmare year, so I’m actually going to switch off from writing totally and chill out. I’ve got a solid month of writing and then an edit before anybody else sees it. My main experience this year has been to get as much right in the first few drafts to avoid the hell of editing.
One thing I’m going to make more of is the Newsletter – please subscribe to it over >>>. It’s pretty decent and honest and I don’t spam with it. Also, if you want to subscribe to receive updates to this blog, that’ll help keep you informed of when books are due to come out.
— Ed