When I was asked to do the final edit for A Murder Of Crows I thought it would be easier than the previous one but I was wrong!

Real life tends to get in the way of a writer's work and real life certainly caught up with me. Massive shifts at work and the death of a loved one contributed to what turned out to be a very tough few weeks. However, the end result is something I am very proud of.

The book originated in 1989. 250 pages and 94,623 words later the final edit is done! Thank you to everyone who has helped me over the years. For me this has been the fulfilment of the dream of a lifetime.

I believe I have written the best book I possibly could and I hope you all enjoy it. I have reorganised the timeline and gone through the entire thing with a fine toothed comb. The closing chapters are now utterly devastating. I must thank Rachel Rayner and Annabel Wright (my editors) for their incisive comments and brilliant notes. It has been a pleasure to  work with them. 

I also did another reading of my book at the Spoon Cafe in Glasgow with fellow writers, Helen Taylor and Tabatha Stirling (check out their books on the Unbound website). It was a great success and the audience were very supportive. It never gets any easier speaking to a crowd of people in a small space!

Finally, I would like to thank the following new patrons for their support:

Gaynor Cherieann, Cazzikstan Cazzikstan, Bren McCreery, Michael Clarke, Beverley Campbell, Sandy Herbert, David Aitken and an Anonymous donor. (Whoever you are thank you!)

Thanks to you my book is still managing to reside in the Unbound top twenty funded books which is nothing short of a miracle. 

So what's next?

Copy editing, followed by proofreading. And then in November publication and...the launch party! I have loads of surprises in store and lots of exciting stuff in the pipeline so keep watching this space. And once again, thank you.

Best Wishes,

Ian.