(Even my pun game isn't able to come up with anything for Frankincense)
Hello, friends. It's Christmas Eve and hatches are being battened, ready for a good couple of days where the outside becomes theoretical. Actually, saying that, I'm planning on barbecueing tomorrow, so I'm going to have to brave fresh air for at least a few hours tomorrow. I've just prepped things for the cook, only discovering at the last minute that the marinade bag I had chosen had a hole in the bottom of it, which explained why there was an awful lot more pouring than I was anticipating. Small beer, anyway. I resisted the urge to just tape over the hole.
It's going to be a low-key one for us here, like it is for most of the country, I think. But that's ok. I'm just glad that those I care about are safe and well, and patient enough to put up with my reddening face over Zoom chats tomorrow. I hope that you and yours are also safe and well, and we can all surf the wave of optimism that a new year brings, more so this year than ever.
THE UNBURIED DEAD is out, and I've been delighted to receive really positive feedback from those who have read it. I can't overstate how much of a fillip it is to hear that people like your stuff, as, inevitably, there is a nervousness when you release something in the hope that people find it, and choose to spend their hard-earned money on it. To find out that they enjoy it as well is a real shot in the arm (pun intended). Not all the feedback has been positive, though - I've attached a picture of one of my harshest critics, who is clearly non-plussed.
I'm far enough into my third book to know there's no turning back now. This one is a change of scene from the first two - Tony and Eleanor can enjoy their break as well, as it's not their turn to be put through the wringer, and instead, I'm leaning into something a little more mysterious, with a flavour of the weird running through it. I can see the shape of the story clearly in my head, though, if the last two books have taught me anything, that shape is likely to change as the characters start to argue with me on what to do next. I'll give a few more details when I can.
So, there we go. Have a wonderful Christmas, and a happy new year.
I'll leave you with a wonderful song that I heard on the radio this week - a song moaning about people who leave it until the last minute to send their Christmas cards. I have no idea why it struck a chord with me...
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