Overdue Summer Update

Apologises as ever for the lack of updates recently. Who would be a writer during the summer? It must be the most unproductive season. There are distractions everywhere: lawns to be cut, Pimms to drink, gardens to tend, barbecues, parties, weddings, the lure of the outdoors. There's no harder time to work. All of those of just excuses of course, and the only thing that keeps a writer from writing is laziness – another hazard of summer.

So where am I with work? Well, The Amateurs didn't turn out as I planned. Not that I was really planning it, which looking back is the problem. Instead of the lengthy novella I intended, The Amateurs has fragmented into a series of loosely connected short stories which as they stand do not form a cohesive whole. I'm not satisfied with how it turned out but there is no one to blame but myself. The lesson learned is to always have a plan; a beginning, middle and a clear end. Writing in the dark doesn't work for me. It wasn't a complete waste of time. There is some good stuff in there – characters and stories that stand up on their own. Some of those stories will feature in my next collection while others will sit in their folder until inspiration strikes again.

The proposed paperback of collected novellas has also stalled. Mainly because my skills are not yet sufficient to produce a book of the quality I want. I can't see the point in releasing a physical book that is substandard. If it's going to tempt readers away from their Kindles then a physical book has to something special. Something beautiful. It's not there yet, but I haven't given up.

The project I am focusing on right now is my third short story collection. The title for this was originally The Exhibitionists. That was until last week when the brilliant Kevin Killian made a casual comment and triggered a light bulb moment, giving me the most brilliant title for the book. What is it? You'll have to wait and see but it's a winner. I have nine stories complete so far, one of which is a piece from The Amateurs, the other is an episode from the abandoned Risk Addiction novel. Depending on length I plan to write another four or five stories before making the final selection for the book. I'm not going to jinx myself by trying to set a publication date before the book is finished but late autumn/ winter is a realistic target.

This weekend Wild West Hero is going to be relaunched with a new cover. Using the same model as before, the new design fits in better with the style of my other e books. Despite being my favourite Wild West Hero hasn't sold as well as my other titles. Maybe people just don't fancy it, but it could be that the mismatched cover is putting them off. So I'm giving the book a re-brand to see if can find a readership. Check it out:

With no new release on the horizon I'm going to be doing some promotions and give aways over the summer. I might even post some of those abandoned stories on line to see what people think of them. I've also rediscovered some of the old tales I wrote for Men Magazine and Freshman way back in the day.  Maybe some of those old relics deserve another day in the sun.

Regards

Thom