Another year over…

… and another book over.  That’s me just finished the writing of FIRE IN THE BLOOD – Scott Cullen book three – and I’m pretty pleased, relieved and comfortable with the end product.  It got a bit hairy towards the end there – I happened down an avenue that I really wasn’t comfortable going down – but I think it’s a sold tale.  Bear in mind that it started out as a 3,000 word short story for Bloody Scotland (rassin’ frassin’ sassin’…), then a 27,000 word novella (that my alpha readers decimated), to turn the world of [well that would be telling] into a 79,647 word novel without stretch is an achievement I’m proud of.  The first two books featured some elements of the surrounding world of Cullen and did it very differently – FIRE features a blend of both and it really enriches the story and the world I’m trying to build up here.  DYED IN THE WOOL features some more of that stuff and this sets a lot of that up nicely and will prevent the sparsity of DEVIL jarring with it.
Also, I’ve pretty much written three full novels in a calendar year (given the state of GHOST twelve months ago…) and I’m just absolutely bowled over by the response I’ve had.  Given that I’m not a name writer (yet :), I’m proud of what I’ve managed to achieve – I’ve had some healthy sales, and I’m pleased with the sales I’ve had for DEVIL (especially at a higher price point).  I can only control so much, and one of the main objectives I’ve got is to get a fair few books out there.  DYED IN THE WOOL is going to follow in April or May, and the fifth Cullen book (DEAD IN THE WATER) is really eating at my synapses just now and I’m aching to plot it out.  I’m grateful to the many loyal readers who are out there reading and loving my work but also recommending it to people – it’s a really hard business this, and I’m so happy to be connecting with people on Twitter than writing in isolation and submitting to agents for rejection after rejection.  I’ve got a big plan that I hope to enact in the next few days, so watch this space.
Now it’s onto a quick copy edit over the holidays.  Then some beta reading.  Then proof reading.  Then published.  Still on track for 19-Jan, but maybe a week or so late…
Now, can I collapse and not get a stinker of a cold…?
Have a great Newtonmas and New Year.
— Ed
 
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