Use my head alongside my heart

Status Report 2022-03-14

Hey,

Hope you’re well and your week’s been productive. It’s me again!

This week’s title is from this beauty:

Aside from the banjo player going a bit mad and outing himself as a far-right nutjob, they’re still a cracking band. The singer was at Edinburgh uni a few years after me and dropped out after first year. Know the feeling (though I didn’t).

“Use my head alongside my heart” is something I’m trying to use as a phrase this year. I’ve driven a lot of decisions by one or the other, and got into hot water or just made bad decisions. Using a logical framework as well as an emotional response is the right thing. I need to find books I want to write that stir my emotions but which will pay the bills.

Last Week

Not as productive as I’d hope. Cleared the halfway portion of GUILT TRIP, Dodds 5, where an old friend has just appeared. Did 10,000 words fewer in a week than the previous weekend but this time I had to do a lot of thinky about it.

Starting books is always easy. You find the mystery, set it up and you can coast on it for a good chunk. This one’s needed a fair amount of resequencing, which took a full day, but I’m now back in the saddle and it’s getting there again. Hate to admit it, but I’m enjoying. As ever, it’s a shame it’s book 5 in a series as I love how strong it is, especially compared to the first two.

The audiobook for SKIN & BONE is up now. Hope you enjoy it!

What else? Well, a fair chunk of data crunching. Seems to take up so much of my bloody time. Used to be a time when you’d upload books to KDP, push them a bit, then they’d keep selling them. Nowadays, it requires so much advertising that I start to dislike the whole thing. But I’m learning a few tricks and techniques that’ll hopefully stand me in good stead for the future.

I’ve been to the cinema twice in two weeks. I know!

THE BATMAN was good but not great. Had a real Sesevenen (Or Se7en if you’re being annoying) take on Batman, nailed a lot of the YEAR ONE and LONG HALLOWEEN stuff, but there was absolutely no chemistry between him and Catwoman. It might be a long film, but it didn’t feel it. The Bruce Wayne side wasn’t very good and Colin Farrell was the best thing in it by a mile.

DOG was an absolute treat. Mark Kermode was raving about it, so that was good enough for me. While it was predictable, it told the story with such warmth and love. I was an absolute wreck at the end, not least because Lulu (the titular dog) reminded me of both Misty and Bessi. Channing Tatum was incredible in it, but he’s generally great in stuff. A very underrated actor.

This Week

Hopefully I’ll finish this Dodds book. Famous last words, I know, but I think it’s possible. A few solid days’ work at it and it’ll be done.

Other than that, I’ve got a hankering to do another series like Cullen and Bain, ideally featuring DS Luke Shepherd (who, spoiler, is in Dodds 5) investigating bent cops. It’s different to what I’ve done in the past. Sure, Cullen, Dodds and Fenchurch have all faced some dodgy cops, but those were as part of vanilla murder investigations. Doing my version of Line of Duty would be interesting. Nothing too long, so I can produce a few a year to build up some momentum. Idle thoughts while I toil!

Anyway. Onwards!

Oh hang on just a minute. I haven’t given an update on Bessi in a while. She’s doing fine, but still stresses with other dogs. I took her up the Three Brethren hill (there are three massive cairns up there, and a fourth forming) and she loved it. This is at the cloud level (the hill getting rained on is one I normally walk around):

But a quieter walk yesterday came across some Italian greyhounds (tiny things, cat-sized greyhounds!) and she was back to stressing. Anyway, I’d send you a video of her, but Substack won’t let me.

Thanks,
Ed