The ‘Tween Times

There are a quiet, few moments when a new book is making its way to publication and my creative efforts on the work have come to an end. I’ve always enjoyed this period of time when other people are working on the manuscript, whether that be editing, title work, promotions or beta reading.  For some reason, I feel that this time is free of pressure. I know I have a book on the way and working on the next project is not required yet. In the beginning, I would use this ‘tween time to work on a short story and indeed that’s where Fool Me Once came from. I’d just finished writing Rookie Privateer and was feeling pretty good about things and I wanted to do something different, so I just started imagining what the story of the least likely character might have been. When I finished Parley I decided I wanted to explore Liam’s dad, Big Pete and so on. Eventually, at the end of 2015, having finished Buccaneers I simply jumped off the cliff and tried a brand new genre – Urban Fantasy, and wrote Wizard in a Witchy World.

So here we are in those final ‘Tween moments of Wicked Folk, the second book in the Witchy World series. I’ve already received two of the five beta reader’s comments and am expecting the rest of them by the end of tomorrow. Having switched gears from Urban Fantasy back to my beloved Privateer Tales crew is like putting on a comfortable pair of jeans. They fit and I really like how they feel. Switching back and forth between UF and Sci-Fi is also a huge bonus for me as it allows my creative side to regenerate while I’m focused on something entirely different.

You might ask what my ‘tween project was. Well, I’ll tell you that I haven’t been idle. Much to the contrary I’ve made tremendous progress on Blockade, Privateer Tales #11. On average each Privateer Tale is about 90,000 words. I really don’t know where we’ll end up when I start, but that’s about the length I’m shooting for. So what about the picture above? Also, as you know I regularly ask Roberto Gabriel Garcia to draw a scene for me. I give him the worst possible description and he somehow, magically pulls out a drawing of high quality. For me, I love giving someone else the reigns for a moment. It allows me to see how others interpret the words I give them. I don’t want to give any spoilers and if anything I want to whet your appetite for Blockade. So I’m just not going to describe the picture, take from it what you will.

As for writing progress — I crossed 30,000 words and I love where the story is headed. The crew just crossed through …

But of course, that’s another story entirely.