A Weekend of Birthday-ness

Yesterday was my birthday, so it's been a weekend of small but enjoyable celebrations. On Saturday, my wife and I went up to visit the London Transport Museum. I've been meaning to visit it for ages, partly for U&F research, partly because I like museums and I've never been to this one. We (or I at least) had a fabulous time looking at old trains, buses and trams. Look, here's a Routemaster ...

We then went on to meet some chums for a meal and a few beers, which was equally fab.

Then on Sunday - having been sung "Happy Birthday" and 'liked' the many kind birthday wishes I received on Facebook (for which - if you left one, I thank you), I sat down to tackle the recording of Episode 6. After about 90 minutes, it was done. Phew! Of course, this isn't the end of the process, it's only the beginning. And talking of the beginning, here it is - the first minute, just so you know I'm not lying.

Good news! I finished writing it today!

Episode 6 is now officially written. It's good, I like it. It took a lot of fussing and cutting and re-working to get everything sounding as it should, but the finished result is on par with the rest of the story. I'll record it tomorrow than I'll edit it and get it out as fast as I can. Huzzah!

Still Writing Ep 6

I'm still writing it. I cut a few chunks of speech today because I felt they added nothing and perhaps over-complicated things. I'm about half way through this current edit. As you know, it doesn't always take this long, but this one is - I'm not sure why - taking longer than other chapters. I think a lot of my difficulties stem from the way this story is told - an audio recording which has no visual clues: I can't go into characters' heads and see what they're thinking, I can't see what they're doing etc etc. But anyway, I endeavour to rise to the challenge. I write on ...

Ep 6 Update

I'm still working on the text. I've finished the second draft, but I'm now going through it again and doing a third draft. I'm halfway there. Of course, when I record it, I'll be creating a fourth re-write as I go along. That always happens. And then, when the audio is finished, that'll be the finished product. Drop by again on Sunday, when I should hopefully be well into the recording process.

I realise it's late; I tried getting some unpaid time off work to finish it and other U&F jobs I have to do, but he can't get anyone to cover my classes. Bear with me. I'll get there.

Episode 6 Update

I've noticed the daily views on this site are rising - as they always do at this time of the month - so I'm posting this update on Episode 6 to keep you in the loop.

Episode 6 is still being written. I'm almost finished, but this week at work (day job) has been very busy and I haven't been able to fit writing into my daily routine since Tuesday. I'm going to do some more tonight and I hope to have it completed by the weekend (which will include a visit from friends who are staying over with us, so that also takes Saturday out of the writing schedule).

In an ideal world, I'd be like James Caan in Misery and go book myself into a little hotel half way up a snowy mountain until the book was finished. But I can't, because unlike Caan, my success doesn't generate money, so I have to have a day job. You might think I make a lot of money from ebooks, but I actually make virtually nothing.

So, based on the prediction that the writing will be completed by the end of the weekend, the audio recording won't start till early next week, and will take at least a week to complete. I'm not saying it'll be released next weekend because I don't know what my day job workload will be next week, but I can at least say that you don't have to keep checking this site every day for the next seven days. Episode 6 is coming, and it will it arrive, but not in the next seven days.

Now, due to the difficulties of providing a monthly episode and the annoyance I know it brings to many of you, I've decided to split Blood and Smoke into two books, rather than struggling on with this difficult schedule. Each one will be a 40,000 word novel in itself (30,000 words of which are now done on the first part). So the current podcast will most likely end with Episode 7 or 8. I will then write Part 2 without making a monthly podcast (which cuts a whole week out of the writing schedule every month), and I'll write the book to completion before resuming any audio production. My current plan involves making all of Part 2 available as a pay-to-download audio book (though a podcast version will be available too). And if that works out, who knows, maybe I'll be able to afford to book myself into a little snowy mountain hotel and write the next U&F title in the seclusion it deserves :-)

Thank you for your continued patience. You are gentlemen and ladies, all.

Expanding The Chronicles.

I've spent this month writing a new, stand-alone addition to the Underwood and Flinch Chronicles. This adventure is a self contained story that has no connection to anything I've ever written before. It features a previously unknown Flinch and is set in a previously uncovered time. I can't say any more than that, but I can say that it's now made the jump from "short-story" to "novelette" in terms of word count (over 7,500).

I love it. My wife loves it. You'll love it too. Coming to you as a pay-to-download only presentation in May 2014. Fang-Tastic!!

Five is Live!

For those of you whom I know keep coming back to check the site every day, I have good news: Episode 5 has landed!! Hit the pic for a direct download or to listen live ...

click the pic for a live link to Episode 5

It's bedtime here, so Good night, Britain / Ireland; good morning, Australia / NZ; and good afternoon USA / USA. I hope you enjoy it.