Wednesday 4 January 2017

What’s next in 2017, and beyond, for me and my writing?

So, The Risen, the third part in The Darkest Hand trilogy, is written! It's with my editor at Duckworth who's editing the manuscript and, once done, we'll then work together over the next couple of months to tighten everything up.

But when it's finished and sent to print, is this the end of the road for Tacit and the Catholic Inquisition? Well, never say never. I’ve loved him and Isabella, and all the other characters within their lives, and have felt very honoured to have been allowed into their world. But after living, breathing, fighting and feasting with the unruly lot for over four years, I’ve rather had enough of their company. When I finished ‘The Risen’, I was exhausted, wrung out, ground down at my desk.

It’s time for a long break ...

Three weeks on from finishing I’ve really enjoyed not having to get up early to write, enjoyed not feeling guilty when I’m doing something other than writing, loved reacquainting myself with family and friends, delighted in saying ‘yes’ to every social invite I’m still offered.

For all that, this is most definitely not the end of the line for my writing. I have ideas for other books (none of them related to The Darkest Hand, I hasten to add) and two of them I think are definitely worth pursuing.

I also have another novel already written. Entitled ‘Ripped’, I wrote it between 'The Damned' and 'The Fallen' in 2014 and it quite possibly might be the best thing I’ve done. It’s a modern day Jack the Ripper copy-cat killer thriller, but one with a lot of heart (not just those removed by the serial murderer) and one which asks, and maybe tries to answer, some of the bigger questions of life; who are we, why are we here and where are we going?

I will probably return to ‘Ripped’ next, whilst making final editorial amends to ‘The Risen’, and then plan to start work on my next book in the summer. Whatever the new novel turns out to be, it will most definitely assuredly not be another trilogy or have a werewolf in sight!

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