When I return from my summer break in mid-August, it signals the start of what will be a very busy time for me.
First up is what I hope will be some exciting news about Scream Blue Murder, due out in November. I have to keep schtum about that for the moment, but if things pan out then the book might well get a kick start that can only help bring it to the attention of a new and much wider readership. I’ll update the blog with news about that if it all goes well.
Then my attention turns to the second book in the Bliss and Chandler series. One final edit and it will be ready to hand over to my publishers. I haven’t settled on a title yet. It will be either The Hag’s Lament or oBreaking Us In Two. You’d have to read the book to fully appreciate the first title I think, and I may seek opinions ahead of its release. The book represents my last contracted novel for Bloodhound – but I hope only for the time being. With a third Bliss and Chandler well under way, plus a follow up to Scream Blue Murder having been started, I am obviously hoping that my publishers will want to publish them as well.
In September I’ll turn my attention to the release of Degrees of Darkness. I suppose it’s actually a re-release, as I have previously self-published this book. On the other hand, the version that is coming out on 28 September has been brought up to date, re-edited, and a number of scenes re-written, including the ending. The month will keep me busy with all the pre-release stuff, after which there will be the hectic and immensely stressful blog tour, which is when I will find out how the bloggers out there feel about the book.
October will hopefully find me appearing on various blogs to promote Degrees, and waiting with baited breath to see how the readers review it. Then in November the whole thing starts again in preparation for the release of Scream Blue Murder. It’s a time of great excitement, but also a fingernail-chewing, pulse-racing, ulcer-inducing period which could see my fledgling career as an author either launch me on the crest of a wave to the next level, or pull the plug and send me swirling straight back to where I began.
And do you know what? I would not swap it for anything.