Shadows & Ink 2025-05-06: Fire in the Blood revisions

Ed James is an idiot

A day late, but I’m going to use the excuse of a bank holiday Monday, even though I didn’t know it was one and spend the day doing tedious admin.

Hello! I hope you’re well.

Had a few notes from people about my appearance at the Borders Book Festival and the tickets selling out. Sadly this is true — it sold out in three days and there won’t be anymore issued, as far as I’m aware. I’ve got a few events in the Borders pencilled in over the rest of the year, in a lot of the bits of the Borders. News when it comes...

#Last Week

Two big things last week.

First pass of Marshall 8 was edited. Phew! And I think it’s come out pretty well. Still a load of work to do on it, with editing the screenplay draft and then converting that to a narrative. Will see how far I get with that, but for now it’s looking positive. And I’m hoping to get it released in August, or September at a push. Anyway, it’s being edited now so I’m not even thinking about it. Though I did visit a couple of locations in the book on Saturday which made me tweak a couple of things.

The view from Scott’s View

That’s too much gorse, isn’t it? And it looks like a mad hike to get there, but it’s a car park just off the road. And I mean, just off the road. But what a staggering view. Shame someone has to die there in the book, isn’t it?

Fire in the Blood 2025 is now off to Angus to narrate. Which is cheating a bit as I did the edits and formatting this morning but I won’t tell if you don’t. Feel pretty good about this now -- I’ll be honest and say I almost binned it at one point, but the usual help from James let me focus in on what it needed to be rather than what it was. These are flawed books in so many ways, but they’re much simpler than a Marshall – I wouldn’t write them now as they are, but the task here is to make them as good as they can be, and I think I just about have.

#This Week

I’m going to get stuck into editing Stab in the Dark. Hopefully this will be easier as I think it’s a stronger book, but we shall see. Famous last words and that. Getting this off to John for a copy edit before my op is priority number one.

In terms of when the 2025 version will be released, once Angus has narrated the first three, then I’ll probably stick them live. Unless book 4 is a midden, in which case I’ll defer that until they’re all done.

Anyway, that’s all from me. Hope you’re having a productive time!

Cheers,
Ed