Hello and sorry for the lengthy delay in writing my blog. It's been a very busy time of late!
I have just returned from a working holiday in France and Spain, during which I began the first proper edit of my novel. We spent two thirds of the journey sitting in a van, travelling the entire length of France and Spain. What little time we had for sightseeing was crammed in whereever possible - we visited Marbella, San Sebastien, Tours and Rouen. We had a splendid, albeit knackering time, visiting cathedrals and swimming in outdoor pools, trying out the local cuisines and taking snaps.
However, whilst in the van I wrote as much of my edit as possible, sometimes starting as early as 5.30 am. The notes I recieved from my editor were fantastic - really helpful. I am very pleased that she loved the ending and was surprised at the twist too - she didn't guess who the killer was! However, I do have alot of structural work to do and this is what I've been working on. So far, I'm almost halfway there and I'm aiming to complete this current edit by the end of the month. Then I'm off on a proper holiday - no writing! (I need a proper break as it's been quite a year!)
I'm pleased to say that my novel is also still at number 16 in the Unbound funded book charts and still at number 2 in their digital charts, despite all the new books that are constantly emerging. I'm also very pleased that Shona Kinsella's book, Ashael Rising, has been successfully funded - I had the pleasure of hosting her book reading a few weeks ago.
So what's next?
Well, work has begun on the cover design for the book and the editing process will continue. I'll be doing a reading from the book in Dumbarton later this month too. There will be related articles in a forthcoming magazine for The Society of Authors and for the Federation of Writers (Scotland). I'll keep you posted.
In the meantime, thank you for your continued support and please remember that it's not too late for anyone to have their name added to the inside of this book, so if you know anyone who would like to recieve this gift then let me know. Also, a growing number of people have expressed an interest in a physical copy, so again, let me know and we will see what we can do.
Thanks for reading,
Ian.