Well, Storm Arwen was fun, wasn’t it? Aside from making me think I was going to end up in Oz, it tore down a eucalyptus tree in my front garden and made it lean across the road so cars had to slow to pass. Had to get help from the local farmer (who lost FOUR ACRES of trees overnight) and his chainsaw. And it pulled a downpipe from the wall, but luckily I could fix that myself, despite being rubbish.
The worst part was it absolutely buggered the three main walking routes I do, knocking trees over the path. Several trees. Great when you've got a foster dog who needs to avoid other dogs and all the other places are busy. So today I went up to my main one with a saw and cut a path through at least six fallen trees. Enough that I can get my 7km walk on every day with minimal effort.
Forestry work is exhausting though.
But not as bad as editing LOST CAUSE. Christ, it’s been tough. This book was supposed to be quick and dirty, but it’s been the hardest thing I’ve written in a long time. The last two attempts at it, I’ve failed because the narrative logic at the end got so convoluted. My replan and new motivation has worked to a certain extent, but this last section feels like playing chess, where the chess pieces are made of fire and the board is eight-dimensional. And I’m drunk.
Anyway.
After a hellish day’s editing, I’ve got through to the last showdown and it’s all working well. I think. I’ve changed a load of stuff on the fly and THAT NEVER GOES WRONG.
What else have I done? Well, I’ve got three ideas I’ve been working on developing. One has definite promise, but needs a lot of character development work. Very high-concept. The other is even higher concept, but is a bit too adventurous just now and falls apart with the twist that the cop is the serial killer he’s investigating. Aye, ditch that bit and rework it.
Working on these mad ideas actually makes me appreciate writing police procedurals. To that end, I’m thinking of doing another Craig Hunter. Famous last words, but hey ho. Might do a new book 1 like I did with Vicky Dodds last year, so you never know. And there’s a Vicky Dodds one itching at my brain…
One of the things I need to do this week is plan out my next year. It’ll likely be three police procedurals, plus a lot of fun stuff.
And, oh crap, Fenchurch 8 is out on Wednesday. Guess I didn’t organise that book launch for it.
And thanks for all the well wishing re: Bessi. She’s settled in now and has it really only been a week? Definitely doesn’t like other dogs and she’s a wee bit clingy, but my tricks are working a bit on both fronts. And she’s getting used to wooden floors. She’s a very lovely dog, though. Cough.
Anyway, see you next week.
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Cheers,
Ed