Pride and sadness

The new book is complete and has been sent off to the publishers.

I'm still not allowed to tell you the title.  It's being kept back, ready for the trumpeting of the marketing launch.

But I can say that it's number six in the tvdetective series, it's 98,000 words long, and - yet again - one of the main themes is justice and revenge, that old Hall favourite.

The body count is quite high for one of my books (I'm not usually that bloodthirsty, but must have been in a grim mood when I was planning it), there are explosions and kidnappings and the odd twist or two.

And yes, for those of you who keep asking, it will update you on how Dan and Claire are getting along, or not, as the case may be.

And no, I'm not telling you any more about that yet, either.

I'm feeling a mix of pride and sadness at finishing the book.  Pride because it's been two years of work finally completed, and so much effort has gone into it. 

Sadness because it feels like I've lost a friend.  I've been carrying the idea with me all this time, the characters too, and suddenly they're gone.  And, strange though this may sound, I'm missing them.

When you spend so much time with an idea, get immersed into it, then it can start to feel very real.  Again, that may sound rather weird.  But, as I always say - if it doesn't feel real to me, I'm never going to be able to write convincingly about it and make it real for a reader.

Now it's a question of waiting for the dizzying day of publication. That's scheduled for May 1st.

Still to come is the dull part of the minor edits, the dots and commas, which I don't much care for.  And then there's the blurb for the back, which is more fun, and finally the arguments about the cover design, which can be very heated and hugely entertaining.

It's something to look forward to over the next few months, particularly the cold and gloomy slog that is January. 

Only five months until publication, and I'm already ridiculously excited.  Again it's a strange comparison, but I sometimes see it as being like an expectant father.  Waiting, waiting, waiting for a much anticipated day...