Musings From the Fluffy Navel Rides Again!

This past month has been a very busy one, what with two books coming out (Blood and Ashes in paperback and Dead Men's Harvest in hardback) and all the associated publicity work that I've been up to alongside them. I've barely had time to update my blog, and I apologise for only hitting you with my latest reviews and such. My writing seems not to have moved on much since last I updated you all, but I have been working hard on a few separate projects to get them ready for publication in one way or another.

Joe Hunter Eight (Current title RULES OF HONOUR) is now in the bag - discounting line edits, full edits, page proofing etc - and is now with my editor. I've also been working hard on writing six brand new Joe Hunter short stories to be released exclusively as an eBook in the early months of next year. It's called SIX OF THE BEST and I really hope you all enjoy this collection. I've also been working on a totally different project that must - for now - remain a secret. It's not Joe Hunter, but it is an action-packed, high-octane thriller, with a genre twist you might not have expected from my pen. More news on that soon...which I hope will be GOOD news.

Good friend of mine, Vallon Jackson, has also been doing some work of his own, and his GOOD news is that independent film makers "Third Act Montage" have picked up his short apocalyptical story THE DAY to adapt in to a short movie. I can't wait to see what they come up with. They did an amazing job on the Joe Hunter movie-promo I shared with you all a few months ago. The Day is now in production and I'll update you all once I know more details or have some sample shots to share.

In a few days time I'll be hopping over the Pond to the USA to attend Bouchercon in St Louis, where I'm taking part in a couple of panels, doing a couple of signings and also giving away 50 copies of Slash and Burn to some lucky recipients. SAB is being released at the end of October by William Morrow and Co as a paperback original, and because some readers might be coming across Joe Hunter for the first time, I've written a brand new chapter that was not included in the original UK edition. Less than a month later, Cut and Run will also be available in the US. Publication of the paperback edition of Judgment and Wrath has been put back in the US until sometime late Spring next year (just in case you were wondering). While I'm in the US I hope to attend a gun range to familiarise myself with the proper handling of handguns again (all for research purposes I assure you) and am also visiting a wolf sanctuary. Can't wait. Though I'm planning on an eventful journey, I hope it doesn't end the way my recent vacation to Jamaica did. While picking up velocity on the runway during take off, my plane was struck by lighting, the engine exploded, and the plane veered wildly out of control before the quick thinking pilot saved all our lives with an emergency stop before we went completely off the runway. Scary stuff, but all fodder for an active fiction author's imagination.

Once I'm back from the next trip, I'll be getting on with Joe Hunter nine. At this time I haven't a clue where the story will take me or Joe, but rest assured, you can count on Joe doing the do as per the norm.

On the publicity front, things are coming to an end for the year. I do have a trip planned to East Boldon Library in N.E England 7.30 on Thursday 29th September, so if you're in the region please pop along. Then I've got my calendar cleared until the new year to get down to some serious writing. Those of you aspiring authors longing for publication, take note: Publicity now takes up more of my time than the actual writing of the books. But it's an extremely important facet of my career (and yours), particularly now that there are less bookshops and retailers pushing your books for you, few newspapers giving up column inches to new books, and less money in the publishers' pot to spend on promotion.

On the promotion front. If you've purchased a Joe Hunter book and liked it, perhaps you can kindly go on Amazon or any other review sites and put up an honest review of the book. It seems only my detractors - or those with an axe to grind - currently post reviews, and my rankings and sales are possibly suffering for it. Now you might care less that it could hurt my pocket, but it also might mean that in the future there could be no more Joe Hunter books released, if the publishers don't think they're viable. I'm sure you don't want that?

To finish....I just wanted to mention a quick "Congratulations" to Dean Crawford, whose debut book Covenant is due for publication. It's one to keep an eye out for, trust me.