Along The Write Lines: Daylight - finishing a new novel

Light at the end of a celestial tunnel.

I know; why a 'new' novel and not simply a novel? Well...it's different. Not better or worse, just a changed experience - like my parents must have felt with a second child. You feel you know the ropes a bit more and you swear that you won't make the same mistakes again. No, you'll make different ones.

This time around I've just completed Shadow State, the fourth novel in the Spy Chaser series. Author Susie Nott-Bower said to me recently, "You must be very fond of Thomas and Karl by now." It's true, and that brings its own challenges.

Shadow State answers some thorny questions about Karl McNeill's past and Thomas Bladen's choices, and plays with that old chestnut: the same but different. While I'd like to think my thrillers can be read individually there are certain threads that run through them and I started the series with the clear intent that the actions of one novel could have consequences in the next. In the previous three books I've referred to the Shadow State and its goals; this time we get to see some of its inner workings and how it recruits. I have also played with some of the staples from previous books (no, not those kinds, silly). Expect the odd role reversal and false start. Some things remain - the humour, the espionage and the swearing. If you enjoyed Standpoint, Line of Sight or Cause & Effect - and preferably all three - I venture to suggest you'll appreciate Shadow State.

As I type this Warren is wearing a beta reader hat and Sarah is waiting to find out what happens to the character she named: Theo Pritchard (she can explain that herself).

Things I plan to do in this window of opportunity between beta feedback, teeth-gnashing edits and submission to Joffe Books:

1. Submit my standalone novel, Scars & Stripes to three agents and three publishers.

2. Reformat the PDF version of superhero club.

3. Look at podcasting.

4. Plan my next newsletter.

5. Smell the roses.