reading – Page 3

When we review another author’s work, many of us might suggest that it could have been longer, or in the case of anthologies, a particular story might work as a novel. When fellow author Barbara Speake reviewed Shadow: and other stories, she hoped that a particular story would get such attention.

That time has come, and I’m pleased to announce that, after much procrastination, my new story, McLennan is underway. I reread Resettlement to refresh myself on the main character. I wrote the first chapter of the new book rapidly, not stopping to change anything so that I could maintain my creative flow.

I reread the chapter, moved the third paragraph up to make it the intro, and introduced some dialogue to break up the narrative. After that session, I left the story and did some baking. On my return, I reread the chapter and amended the dialogue. It’s probably not close to where it will be in two months. However, where I ended it had catapulted me into the second chapter, so the story will now be with me during every waking minute until I write passages and snippets of dialogue as they occur to me.

There will be a brief foreword in the book to explain that it’s fictional and that the first chapter is loosely based on recent history. If you’d like to read and comment on the first chapter, please click The Invisible Man.

I sincerely thank my regular readers for choosing and supporting my brand. If you’re new to my writing, I hope you’ll soon become one of my valued readers. Thank you for checking out my blog.

In the past few weeks, I’ve been in touch with fellow authors and bloggers I haven’t heard from in a long time. I drifted away from regular blogging several years ago, after spending a while receiving unexpected, but welcomed accolades for my ‘regular and interesting’ posts. I regret the loss of many international ‘friends’, but abandoning the twice-weekly articles and the many regular mutual visits left me more time for my first love–storytelling. Those recent contacts reminded me that my blogging days gave my brand a much-needed boost in the early years.

I didn’t produce an end of year blog in 2023, although I did publish Crusader. That one title felt like an accomplishment because, when only partially through writing the story, a secondary character often took centre stage. I was compelled to remove a sizeable chunk of the story to allow the primary character his own space.

The chapters I’d removed but saved from Crusader, became the foundation of my next story. Earlier this year, I published Constance, and I’m pleased to report that she has appealed to many readers. When I first attempted writing strong female characters I wasn’t sure if I’d be capable, but as their numbers increase, so has my confidence.

I set A Taste of Honey in the USA, aiming to attract more readers there, which worked. Knowing that my readers mainly hail from Europe, it was logical to set the sequel on this side of the pond. I’ve learned a lot since writing the first book, which has now been revised twice. Before going too far with the second part of Honey’s story, I reread the first to absorb the heroine’s mindset. By then, I felt comfortable with the continuing story, moving the character and the action to places more familiar to me.

I published Another Taste of Honey earlier this month as an eBook and it’s had good reviews so far. I’m hopeful that these will continue and the sequel will be as successful as the first part of the story. As with all of my work, I enjoyed living in the adventure and felt comfortable travelling from one location to another in Europe. Amsterdam, Cologne and Berlin all feature as Honey gives chase, and as you might expect, she continues to serve her own style of justice. The paperback will be available in early January 2025.

In November, I published my first anthology of short stories in four years.

Harriet: and Other Stories is a mixed-genre and mixed-theme collection. Five of the tales are sci-fi/fantasy/paranormal, and once again, there are no erotica stories included. Several of the stories were written as submissions for the quarterly Connections-eMagazine published by Melanie P. Smith.

I’ll post again in January to give a foretaste of my aims for next year. In the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful festive break, and thank you for your interest and any comments.

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