Books. What’s next?
As you know, my life these days consists mainly of staying home and writing, as it has done for several years now, and sometimes I’ve got nothing to tell you apart from what I see, write and do. Although many people think I spend my days doing nothing, sitting at home enjoying the view, ‘doing crosswords on a terrace, taking breakfast in bed…’ (a quote from Evita) I do actually work eight hours a day, six days per week writing. I’ve been using lockdown to produce a couple more of my pen name’s Victorian mystery books, and have just finished the first draft of ‘Home From Nowhere’, the seventh Clearwater Mystery set in 1889. This one is to do with music. I like to have a theme for each story; the last one was art (vaguely), the one before that, Henry Irving and Bram Stocker, and before that a poem and Tennyson, the Royal Opera House and an opera, and so on. Now I need to think about what comes next.
What should it be? Another Miss P story? She was popular among friends, but like many of my real name books, not enough copies get sold to pay the bills, which is why I invented the more lucrative Jackson Marsh line. I could try to go for the fourth and final Saddling book, but I’ve already written half of one and found it wasn’t doing what it should do, as I wasn’t in the right place for it, so that’s still on hold. The Symi books (rough though they are in places) continue to contribute towards the water bill, but I feel I’ve ‘done’ that theme now, and so I’m left with a first draft ‘resting’ as they say in the kitchen, while I turn my attention elsewhere. Meanwhile…
It strikes me that as Sunday is Summer Solstice, I’ve a good opportunity to advertise one of my books. The Witchling takes place over the summer solstice, and although it’s book two in a series of (currently) three, it is possible to read it without having to have read part one – kind of. You’re better off reading The Saddling first, but if you fancy some mystery and thrills, you can launch into The Witchling straight off the bat.
All my books are available at Amazon in paperback, on Kindle, and can be borrowed for free if you have Kindle Unlimited. The full lists are here:
James Collins
Jackson Marsh
