Brent Street, new novel

Hi folks,

I have decided to stick with my original plan and publish The Brent Haunting in the Summer of 2013. No doubt buoyed by the success of my short stories Double and Northern Star, I had an idea to bring forward the publication of Brent Street. But one thing that I've learned in writing and publishing is that patience is the most important virtue. And this for someone who is naturally impatient!

I wrote Brent Street from end October last year until mid-January this. I edited it straightway, with the view of putting it away for several months before doing the final edit (recommended). As the action takes place towards the end of Summer in late August until early October, I thought a good time to publish would be in the Summer months. After reflection I think this view was correct and so expect to see the novel out on the usual platforms July/August time.

In writing the most important thing is to creat great stories and that is what I am attempting to do. A new novel has been suggesting itself to me over the past few weeks and I have been working on the plot. It is a sequel to Brent Street, but only in that it features the demonic Mr Coates who once more is pulling the strings. I am spending some careful time on working out the plot and sub-plots of this story right now. I will then flesh out the situation and places and characters before beginning to write. I anticipated this to be a about 75k long, but I will proceed at a more leisurely pace to Brent Street and aim to get it done by Christmas, for publication sometime in 2014.

The other thing I intend to do is to keep this blog up to date. I hope to publish some insights into the themes which illuminate my work over the coming months. I hope these will be entertaining as well as informative.

Best wishes

Saul

Double

Dear Readers,

I will publish Double on Friday 22 February, Free on Smashwords (for a limited time) and on Amazon.

Here's a description of the little tale:

Alpha male David Black has the lot - a successful business, beautiful wife Miriam and two wonderful kids. That’s not to mention young Rachel Owen his sexy PA and mistress. Whilst on a family holiday David spots his double walking towards him on a pier. When he returns home from holiday David has to have a troublesome wisdom tooth removed. In order to meet the appointment with the dentist he cancels a business engagement with John Collis in Birmingham that promises much new work for his factory. On arriving back at his desk the day following the operation, David phones Collis to confirm the rearranged appointment. However he is shocked and bemused by the strange and outraged behaviour of the prospective client towards him. David certainly will not be getting this new business. Gamely he writes off Collis as a crank, but it is the dawning of his worst nightmare as Double goes on to take each and every opportunity to impersonate David with disastrous consequences for his business, marriage and relationship with Rachel. The mystery finally unravels as David is confronted face to face by Double whilst beginning a prison sentence for a crime he did not commit. David taunts his nemesis that he has overplayed his hand - taken the lot. But evil Double has one more thing he’d like from David...

 

Double is a disturbing paranormal mystery, the tale of a successful forty-something businessman haunted to breaking point by his double.

 

Best Wishes

 

Saul

Northern Star published

Folks,

I published Northern Star free on Smashwords.

Here's the link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/283537

The story is also available on Amazon

Regards


Saul

Northern Star

Hi folks,

as promised in my previous post here is a synopsis and cover image for the fourth story in the Lucy Harlow detective series of short stories. It will be out free of charge on Smashwords this Saturday (9 Feb) and also will be available of Amazon. It is 9600 words long.

Synopsis

Rich wild child Carrie Marchant has made a phone movie of herself in the throes of ecstasy with a former lover Craig Stapleton, a rough diamond who she calls her Northern Star. But the clip has got into the wrong hands and a blackmailer is trying to extort a price from Carrie’s mother Rebecca. Carrie isn’t too bothered about who sees her in action, but Rebecca believing the blackmailer to be Stapleton calls in Lucy to investigate. However the enigmatic Sara Bradbury, Carrie’s elder sister, would much sooner brush things under the carpet and pay off the blackmailer. Lucy begins to understand why as she opens the can of worms that is Carrie’s life.

 

Northern Star is a tale of blackmail and murder and is the fourth in the Lucy Harlow detective series.

Writing etc

Hi folks,

I finished my latest novel, The Brent Street Haunting 10 January, and by 21 January I had been through it and made the necessary adustments to the first draft. I then put it away and set about revisiting a story that I wanted to publish just before Christmas, Summer Soldier. SS is a Lucy Harlow detective story and I was unhappy with it just before it was due for publication. I was too busy to give it the attention it needed as I was embroiled in Brent Street. Therefore, with Brent Street out the way for the time being, I revisited SS and made the adjustments that I thought necessary for it to be published.

However, I remain unhappy with the story. This is not a new emotion for me. I will not publish anything I am not happy with for whatever reason. A couple of my short stories from 10 years ago - Climb To The Stars and Season's End - remain unpublished for the same reasons. Never say never, and sometime if the mood takes me, I may well publish these and SS, but for the time being they will remain on the shelf.

So, that brings me round to what to do next. I am acutely aware that I have not been publishing enought lately. Opera Flowers - the third in the Lucy Harlow detective series of short stories came out in October last year. Since publishing stuff is just about the best publicity an aspiring author can get, it is about time I put something else up. Therefore, I will publish what is now the fourth Lucy Harlow story - Northern Star - this weekend. It will be free of charge on Smashwords and will also be available on Amazon. I will post seperately a synopsis and a cover image today.

Next up for publication will be Double, a mystery born out of the characters in Oxygen Restriction (the first Lucy Harlow). This is a paranormal story that I like very much and is an important landmark in my writing career. It will be out in a few weeks on Smashwords and Amazon. The Brent Street Haunting will follow a few weeks later (probably April).

Best Wishes

Saul.

Brent Street under review

Hi folks,

The Brent Street Haunting is now going through its first edit. I've been through about 15k words of the 76.5 k since Monday evening. It's easy to read and there is not an awful lot of correcting to do. I am doing both a copy edit and a line edit, with also an alteration of some of the proper names. For instance I was unsure about the name of the chemical company that is central to the location, so in the first draft I referred to it as the Company. Funily enough this works for most of the narrative and so will remain, but I did want to have a proper name from the start and so have opted for Albiston Chemicals. Similarly, one or two of the proper place names I used in the first draft needed some manipulation and that has been done.

I think I've said before that I wrote this on a right first time basis. After writing every portion (could vary from 500 to 1500 words) I stopped and went through what I'd written at least 3 times (sometimes more). This was obviously a line edit, but also with reference to the geography of the tale that I'd mapped out was also a copy edit. Thankfully, from what I've seen so far the practice seems to have worked. Indeed the most copy editing will be required in the early chapters of the book, and though there has been some it has been minimal. Therefore, I expect less as I go on, and the whole process should become a simple line edit.

I reckon I'll be through with this now in early February. I will write a short and long synopsis and then put the story to sleep for about 3 months. In the meantime I will publish, Summer Soldier, Northern Star and Double. Double is a great short story in its own right, and all this work will pave the way for Brent Street.

Best Wishes and Regards

Saul.

Brent Street Finished

Dear Readers

Yesterday, I finished my new novel, The Brent Street Haunting. I set out on October 30 last year to write a paranormal thriller of 75 k words. I have worked on it none stop until I put THE END after the final sentence yesterday. The book actually finished at 76.5 k so I more or less hit my target bang on. It took a little over ten weeks, so the maths are 7650/ week, around about 1100 a day. I write first in pencil in a notebook and then usually type up what I have written a few hours later. Like I have said before I work full time and am a single parent of young adults so it's been a big ask.

The book is more or less right as it is. There are some very minor changes I have in mind to place names, the name of one particular company (which I couldn't settle on before I set out), but other than that all I anticipate is a line edit.

I will start this on Monday, and expect it to last a leisurely 4 - 5 weeks. I will then do a synopsis (long and short) and seek someone to do a cover for me. I will put the text away for a few months and get on with publishing my other completed stories Summer Soldier, Norther Star and Double. This will enforce a much needed break from Brent Street, which I will revisit one more time before publication. I expect to look at it again in June and have August this year in mind for publication.

I am happy and relieved to have completed Brent Street. Until you put the full stop behind the last sentence it is not completed, it does not exist. But when the last word is written it has been created and is yours.

I look forward to 2013 as a year of publishing!

Best wishes

Saul