ANYONE AT HOME?

 ANYONE AT HOME?

I haven't written a blog post for a long time - not sure why. In fact I don't seem to be writing anything as intensely as I have in the past. Book seven, provisionally titled BLOOD ON THE NILE, is making much slower progress than the previous six. I guess I've just been concentrating on other projects. But, as my blog seems to be getting quite a number of views lately I thought I'd better write something.

The provisional title of the book may be a little misleading. The reason is that my detective, DI Sonny Russell is tasked with tracking down the origin of some Egyptian artifacts that are thought to have been obtained illegally. His boss, Superintendent Stout, thinks he's the right man as he was out in the East during the war, despite Sonny's protestations that Egypt is a long way from where he was stationed. Now, if I was a full-time writer, with a decent income from writing, I could justify a trip to Egypt for research, but as I'm only a poor part-timer it's unlikely to happen. So It will be the usual Google and Wikipedia searches for information.

As with my other books I try to weave several story threads together and the title of this post is a reference to another of those. Briefly, a man is found dead beneath the cliffs at Pett Level (I'm not giving anything away as this happens early in the book) and a nearby 'sanatorium' comes under suspicion. Strangely though, when the police return, the building is empty and the neighbours can't help. I've just posted on social media, asking where to find information about the ownership of the house and almost immediately a number of people have come back. The Land Registry seems the best port of call. I won't need to actually follow it through - this is fiction, after all - but I now know where the police need to go.

TREADING WATER

 TREADING WATER

Do you ever go through a seemingly endless period where a lot seems to be happening but you don't feel as if you're achieving much? Those times when however much you try to tick items off the to-do list, it never seems to get any shorter? And your diary seems to be piling up with so many engagements you wonder if you'll ever be able to do any of them, let alone all of them? Well that's how I feel at the moment.

But, I keep telling myself, it's not as bad as it seems. My sixth book in the DI Sonny Russell series of crime novels has recently been launched and is selling well*. Plus, the others in the series are still going out, particularly the first one, Blood on the Tide. This is gratifying as hopefully, if new readers like it, they continue with others in the series.

*I stepped into the breach and gave a last minute talk recently as the scheduled speaker had tested positive for covid. The talk was to quite a small group in Benenden in Kent but as much of the action in Blood on the Dunes takes place nearby, I sold quite a number of copies, which was most gratifying. 

Although I've started on book six, provisionally titled Blood on the Nile**, I haven't made much progress, due to the reasons outlined above. But, I have been asked several times, by readers who have already finished 'Dunes', when the next book will be ready! As it usually takes a year to write a book, there will be a bit of a delay.

** Does this mean that DI Sonny Russell will be venturing further abroad, I hear you ask. Well, possibly. For relaxation, I model narrow gauge railways and several of my books have been inspired by the layouts I've built. In fact, the whole series started with a model I made based on the quayside at Rye Harbour in Sussex. For a while now I have been building an Egyptian themed layout called Caravanserai, so this has provided some of the inspiration for the next book. But, book and model alike are a long way from being finished, so meanwhile, I'll continue trading water.