Work
As you read this, I’ll possibly be somewhere over the Atlantic on my way to Seattle.
This is a week off, so of course I spent ages messing about with my website. I’m pretty pleased with it. It’s kind of live just now, but I’ll redirect all my other domains towards it in a couple of weeks once I’ve ironed out the kinks. Have a look and let me know what you think:
Doing that made me look at my backlist with a different eye. I hated the first two book covers. So I did some new covers for the first two Cullen books:
And for some reason I can’t fathom, I’ve relaunched the two Supernature books. Book 1 is now BAD BLOOD, previously published as JUST WALKING THE DEAD:
And Book 2 is now COLD BLOOD, previously published as SHOT THROUGH THE HEART:
If you haven’t bought them, take a look. While they didn’t sell anywhere near as well as my crime stuff, I do have a soft spot for them and I get emails asking if I’m doing any more (incredibly unlikely, but you never know). And I can’t seem to escape being asked about them at book events, so I might as well own it. Plus I did all that work and spent all that money on them. If you want to check them out on Amazon, do so here: Bad Blood; Cold Blood. (At the time of writing, the series page hadn’t been updated to reflect the resequencing…)
Project update
No real updates, given I’m supposed to not be working, aside from Project BIGTIME having a cover and, while I can’t show you it yet, it’s DAMN DAMN GOOD. I’m ridiculously excited about it.
Photo of the week
Play
Been reading Joe Abercrombie’s A Little Hatred, which is a sort-of fantasy novel in a sort-of series. I’d better explain that. So it’s in a medieval fantasy setting, but one that’s undergoing the industrial revolution and all the pain that ensues. And it’s book seven in a sort-of series. The first three novels are among my favourite things ever, a sprawling epic with incredible characterisation. The next three were patchier, with book 4 and 6 being pretty damn good, but the fifth (The Heroes) just a horrible grind. I’d say I’m enjoying A Little Hatred, but the first third is a masterclass in having way too many POV characters. And I know I’m one to talk for having too many characters in a book, but this is brutal. My understanding is he wrote the trilogy in one burst and it’s being released annually, so there’s obviously a lot of worldbuilding needed to support the story, but this was slow. At around 40% it kicks in and I’m really enjoying it now.
I bought a Nintendo Switch last week and blasted past Link’s Awakening, a 2019 remake of a 1993 Gameboy game. I played the original, my first Zelda, and got stuck halfway through. I’ve beasted loads of Zeldas since, and managed to batter through this in a week or so, and not particularly intense playing. Really enjoyable, though. It looks and sounds incredible, and the gamplay didn’t feel too janky. In what’s going to be a mistake, I started Dragon Quest XI, a REALLY LONG Japanese RPG. It’s great so far.
TV watching has mostly been the second season of Vice Principals. We watched the first one back in 2013/14, I think. It was an HBO show that Sky Atlantic had, but the second season never showed up. So I bought it on Amazon and it’s brilliant. Danny McBride and Walton Goggins are on top form in this.
And that’s us. Week 4 of 12 of the test. I’m enjoying it, let me know if you do or don’t. Please!
— Ed