No Cure For Regret
Shadows & Ink 2025-09-29
Yes, it’s me! Back with another one after... not doing them for ages. And a huge thank you to all those who signed up recently, hopefully you won’t unsubscribe (but it’s okay if you do).
Met an old mate for lunch yesterday and we got to talking about workload and me realising how burnt out I got in the first half of this year. I did a ludicrous number of projects and most have come to pass now, so I can take the pressure off a little on that score. But me not doing this wee newsletter is a symptom I’m not firing on all cylinders -- or rather, I’ve fired on them all for too long.
#Last Week
Anyway, last week I finished the first assembly cut screenplay version of No Cure For Regret and I’m feeling pretty bloody good about it, to be honest. I’ve stripped out a lot of fluff and crud in there, which related to the fact it was book 2 in a series, and now have a lean, character-driven thriller sitting there. There’s still a chunk of work to be done on it, like adding character nuance and a bit more Winter-specific stuff after introducing her in Marshall 9, but I’m satisfied with where I’ve got to with it. Weirdly, the story translated incredibly well from Seattle to Edinburgh and it’ll mean a wee bit of travel at some point in the next few months to flesh out some locations on Arran.
#This Week
Rather than plough on into a second draft of that, though, I decided to plug away at the second book, No Time To Grieve, and I’ve already decided that’s a rarely wise move on my part, mainly because I’ve uncovered a plot line I’d gone too early with in Cuts Both Ways, that will require a few tweaks in that (just a couple of paragraphs, I reckon), but it’ll make the first two books a lot stronger, especially the second.
I’m not sure when to tackle the third book, mind. It won’t be soon as I need to get stuck into Marshall 10 before I solidify these. The third, to be re-titled No Need To Fear, was a bit of a mess -- I wrote it stupidly quickly to satisfy a contract and didn’t really enjoy it. There’s a good story there, but it’s rougher than a badger’s bum. Weirdly, it reviewed the highest of the three so what do I know?
So, this week is all about ploughing on with converting the remaining 3/4 of the book into screenplay format -- the first quarter is now a pretty tight book/screenplay so far, but this is now where the actual plot comes out. The biggest issue I have with this book is the motivation for why the villains are doing what they did. It feels a bit ropey, to be honest and I’ve learned a lot of writing craft in the last six years since I wrote this (it could even be seven). I’ve spent a few hours this morning going through the possible options and coming up with something a lot leaner and tighter, that makes much more sense and will hopefully let me cut out a few redundant plot threads -- I think there’s going to be a few too many plot points in this one, so it’ll be good to remove them and tighten the story down. I hope to get a good chunk of this nailed down this week, but doubt I’ll finish it because it’s VAT return o’clock...
#Stuff
I’m appearing at Chiltern Kills in Gerrards Cross (15m train journey from Marylebone) this weekend. It’s a bargain affair, with the tickets at £40 which covers ALL EVENTS, so you can (theoretically see Jeremy Vine, Lisa Jewell, Claire Douglas, Richard Coles and tons of other authors.) There’s also a £70 ticket which includes time with one of two literary agents, if that’s your bag.
For my part, I’ll be appearing on the LAIRDS OF CALEDONIAN CRIME panel with Mason Cross, Russel McLean and Craig Robertson, chaired by the almost-tolerable human being Neil Lancaster. I’ll then be chairing THE DARK SIDE: WHERE CRIME & HORROR COMBINE with Mark Edwards, Fiona Cummins, Amanda Jennings and Helen Fields. Finally, I’ll be mucking about leading the karaoke with Mark Edwards later on, which is always good fun, even after the technology nightmare we had last year.
Buy tickets here:
Anyway, enough of my nonsense for a week -- I’ll be back in seven days.
Cheers,
Ed