Monday 27th October
Having recovered from a bout of near fatal man flu, I’m back on blog duties once again this week. The interview that I recently did for WriteWords is now up on the site. WriteWords is an on-line source of inspiration and feedback for writers, where you can post sections of your work and invite constructive criticism. Click here to read the full version of the interview. In further publicity related news, my next book signing at the Norwich Branch of ASDA is now just a few days away. The signing will occur on Saturday 1st November from 11 a.m. until 12.30 p.m. and I hope to see some of you there.
On the writing front, work on the third novel in the Zac Hunter series, The Beholder, was slightly impacted by both the aforementioned bout of man flu plus a sizeable turf laying project that I had on in my back garden (80 square metres, and boy, those rolls of grass get heavy in a hurry). Despite these distractions, the total word count for the novel has now passed 80,000, and the remaining fifth of the book should see the murder and mayhem ramp up another few notches!
Cheers,
SteveWhat’s Steve been listening to this week?
Black Ice – by AC/DC (this one’s on heavy rotation!)
Songs For The Deaf – by Queens of the Stone Age
Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace – by Foo Fighters
Monday 20th October
It is with regret that there will be no blog this week, as Steven has a bout of the man flu. Apologies.
Monday 13th October
First up, there’s been great news on the ASDA front. Following my successful book signing at their Norwich store a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been invited back for a repeat performance! The next signing will occur on Saturday 1st November from 11 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., so if you couldn’t make it down last time, feel free to come say hi and snag yourself a signed copy of Justice For All – and don’t forget, Christmas is just round the corner if you’re looking for the ideal gift!
And now for the rest of the publicity update. As regular readers will know, I was part of a feature on UK thriller writers in the October edition of Arena magazine. For the interview, I was asked to provide punchy, pithy, funny, flippant, answers to a long list of questions. From this list, a number were chosen for publication, and some of them were then edited for brevity. Click here to read both the published interview, as well as a world exclusive Director’s Cut! (i.e. the full list of answers as initially provided to Arena).
I’m also due to be interviewed by Jochem Steen, who runs an excellent website dedicated to fictional private investigators – www.sonsofspade.tk. A review copy of Justice For All has been dispatched to Jochem’s base in the Netherlands, and once the review and interview go live, I’ll be sure to let you all know.
On the writing front, work on the third novel in the Zac Hunter series, The Beholder, continues to go well. The total word count passed 70,000 last week, which means that I’m a good two-thirds of the way into this first draft. I’ve now reached the stage where I look forward to writing each day now (which trust me, isn’t always the case), firstly because I know that there’s lots of action coming up and I do enjoy getting my teeth into a good action scene, and secondly, because the finishing line is now in sight!
Cheers,
SteveWhat’s Steve been listening to this week?
Unplugged In New York – by Nirvana
Only By The Night – by Kings of Leon
Born In The USA – by Bruce Springsteen
Monday 6th October
First of all, I’d like to offer a big shout out to Jo Nape, one of the DJ’s at Future Radio, who gave Justice For All a few healthy plugs on his Saturday evening show last week. Future Radio is a community radio station based in Norwich that broadcasts on 96.9FM and via its website, www.futureradio.co.uk, and I’d like to thank Jo for his kind support.
On the writing front, I had another great week working on the third novel in the Zac Hunter series, ‘The Beholder,’ knocking out another 7,000 words, although there was a bit of a hiccup along the way. At one point, the plot calls for Hunter to leave his hometown of Los Angeles and journey to another major American city (which shall remain nameless for now). I knew that travelling by car was out of the question as the distance was too great, so I planned to have Hunter catch a flight and arrive in the city early afternoon, ahead of some major plot developments. When it came to checking all the flights out of L.A., I found that although the overall flight time was about 6 hours (as I’d estimated), there were no direct flights available, all of them requiring a lengthy layover in another city. As a result, Hunter couldn’t arrive at his destination until early evening at best, which necessitated making a few tweaks to the novel’s plot to reflect this. The moral of the story? When it comes to travel arrangements, it’s best to do your research up front!
Finally - another gig to report on, as I caught my first one in Norwich since the Reading Rock festival (which was way back in August). The Subways are one of my favourite new bands, and this was the fourth or fifth time I’ve seen them, and quite possibly the best. Since the release of their excellent second album, ‘All Or Nothing’, their sound has become more muscular and Billy Lunn’s lead vocals have become more gravelled (after an operation to remove nodules from his vocal chords). As a live act, they’re hard to beat, bringing tons of energy and enthusiasm to their show – bassist Charlotte Cooper rocks harder than most other bands on her own, and at one point during the gig Lunn swan dived from the speaker stacks to land in the mosh pit below. All in all, a great night!
Cheers,
SteveWhat’s Steve been listening to this week?
All Or Nothing – by The Subways
Silent Cry – by Feeder
The Sound of Madness – by Shinedown