Surprise! Had this under wraps for a couple of weeks, and can now unveil this special, one-off podcast, which is something of a cross between an interrogation and a roast…

I don’t know what I was expecting when I offered my podcasting cohorts James Boxall and Aaron Hayes the chance to interview me about the new book. Well… the results are here now for you to listen to at your pleasure. It’s a 50-something minute programme in which I am roasted and interrogated about Sin & Secrecy, The Berylford Scandals as a series, plus my plans for future projects and my thoughts on writing in general.

SPOILER ALERT!

Just to make sure you’re aware, there are spoilers in this programme, pretty much from the get-go. But also exclusive previews (in my voice). And in case any younger people happen to be nearby when listening, this podcast contains controversial opinions, moderate language and sexual references.

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After teasing the new book for a few months, about time I gave you a little taste. From the opening chapter…

I don’t know if I mentioned it, but the book I published last year — The Berylford Scandals: Lust & Liberty — is actually the prequel to a novel I wrote two years previously. That story is Sin & Secrecy, which I’m currently revising with a mind to publish sooner rather than later. That way, I can get back to writing my wartime thriller You Can Hear Chopin from the Attic.

Unlike Lust & Liberty, from which I removed massive chunks of plot and sub-plot from the final product in order to make it more concise, Sin & Secrecy will begin as it always has since the first draft written back in 2008. With an incident in the school classroom involving a dictionary and four mischief-makers collectively referred to as The Four Scallywags. Their real names are Andrew Tresswood, Mark Walldrowe and the twins Rosa and Rita Serjeant — in a sense, they are among the newest major characters to come into play in this book. The point of this chapter, other than to open the novel, is to introduce the main anti-hero — Abel Stirkwhistle — as a sadistic and cruel disciplinarian, overruling even his own sister, Rebecca.

Hopefully, you can get a sense of this from the below excerpt, taken from the first chapter. It takes place immediately after The Four Scallywags have been sent to Abel’s office, awaiting their punishment…

Excerpt from The Berylford Scandals: Sin & Secrecy — Chapter I: The Mistake with the Dictionary

Sorry about the gapping, by the way. Just a technical thing I can’t avoid…

Anyway, what did you think? Hopefully, you want to know what Abel does next! And more besides! Subscribe to this page and/or follow the social media accounts. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are currently most active. We’ll be doing more of these previews, along with character profiles. If you have any ideas, please feel free to comment etc.