Today is my first day back on the standalone, or TSA as it is known in posh circles. I’ve not laid a finger on it for ages, not since getting dragged into the heady world of editing Book 2 (have to get used to calling it ‘Dying Light’).
Thirteenth of May: that was the last time I put finger to keyboard on the thing and I’ve been looking forward to getting back to it. In an absentminded kind of way. It’s only 58 pages long at the moment, a lot less than I thought I’d written, probably because I did so much pre-planning on this one (I was going to try selling it on the basis of a few chapters and a plan, so the whole thing needed mapping out) that I know most of what’s going to happen, long before I get there. Which is unusual for me.
This book is being written speculatively; it’s not part of my three book deal with HarperCollins. Like John’s people, they want to make sure that the series is properly established, before they let me go sodding about all over the landscape with unconnected books. And like Mr Rickards I have no problem with that whatsoever. I LIKE writing Logan books. I like the characters, spending time with them is fun. Especially when I get to torture and mutilate them. Bwahahahahaha… *ahem*
As such TSA won’t be out this year, or the next. Hell I’d be surprised if it sees the light of day before 2007 or 2008. Heck-fire and tarnation, it may never see the light of day at all! But it’ll keep me busy until later in the year when I embark upon Logan’s third book. If I’m lucky, and the books are selling well, HC may consent to move me up to two books a year, but that’s not going to be for a while yet.
But in the meantime, I get to write something much, much darker than anything I’ve ever done before, which is nice. In a noir-ish kind of way.
Right, that’s enough of this blogging malarkey – to the Bat Cave!