Picking up an old habit… in the absence of a regular newsletter, here’s an update on how I’m getting on with creative projects…

Back when I was writing and editing the final drafts of Sin & Secrecy, I started writing these monthly progress report blogs. Not just to keep you readers up-to-date with the current book, but all creative projects currently in the pipeline. Last one was in 2020, I think. A lot has happened in the ensuing years as my social media footprint and sporadic blog posts will confirm. But now is as good a time as any to start these monthly reports up again. Might hold me accountable to getting things done on these projects!

You Can Hear Chopin from the Attic

The main one to discuss is Book Three, You Can Hear Chopin from the Attic. We had a few off weeks last month, on account of the heat we had in the UK. But I’m happy to say it didn’t move the goalposts as far as this wartime thriller is concerned. At the start of 2023, I said the target for the end of the year was to have a finished first draft. And, I confirmed in a recent social post, we’re still on course to hit that target.

As I’ve just finished the fifth “part” of eight, I’m just over 60% of the way through. I write my manuscripts in A5 formatting; earlier this week, I surpassed 500 pages. Hitting pivotal moments for my protagonists as they start to re-evaluate their actions, their decisions, their mindsets and more, in the wake of a tragedy. Don’t worry, no spoilers here! But yes, at over 500 pages, with a third or so of the story to go, I am more than well aware that the book is too long. We’ll save the slicing and dicing of plot and character for the editing process. That should be a 2024 job.

Lust & Liberty

Yes, you’ve read that correctly. I’m working on my first novel The Berylford Scandals: Lust & Liberty again. You needn’t fear, there are no drastic changes going on. I’m not changing the divisive ending, or anything else about the story for that matter. The occasional sentence or bit of dialogue, if I decide it sounded clunky. No, the alterations are mainly cosmetic and cost-related.

Since Amazon KDP raised their printing costs at the end of last month, my paperback royalties, which were meagre to begin with, will be impacted. Which is why I decided to reduce the font size and formatting of Lust & Liberty. An effort that has taken a fair chunk out of the page count. I’m doing a read-through now, just to ensure all joints are oiled before I commission an amended cover. The spine will need to be narrowed, you see?

Short stories and poems

While the labour of love of writing You Can Hear Chopin wages on, I also try to crack out the odd poem and short story for competitions and so on. One about an opinionated old man and his encounter with a young eccentric on the bus one morning. Another, a poem that I envision as a spoken piece, that reflects on my life when I was ten years-old. There are a couple that I’ve been trying to get out there in the hope of publication. . The No successes as of yet, I’m afraid. As is the case with many early career authors, the successes don’t always come thick and fast. The key is to maintain self-belief.

There are a couple of others in the pipeline that draw from projects from much earlier in my career. If I ever get around to writing them, you’ll find out more in future reports.

Other projects

There’s one particular project missing from this report — you may or may not be able to guess what it is. But I’m not telling for a few weeks yet. Don’t want to spoil the surprises that await.

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…for now. Answering yet another frequently asked question and revealing why I’m leaving Berylford behind for the time being…

When telling friends and family that I’m working on my third book, some of them ask what it’s about… others ask me, “Is this part of the same series?” And, of course I say, “No”. You Can Hear Chopin from the Attic is entirely separate from the Berylford series. Different country, different time period, and so on. That’s all easy enough to understand. What I don’t make a massive point about is why. Why did I choose not to write a third Berylford book?

I may have mentioned it on podcasts and other interviews in the past that, initially, when I released Lust & Liberty, I planned to leave the series alone for a few years. Write You Can Hear Chopin in that time and then come back and polish the existing draft of Sin & Secrecy. It was just sitting there, waiting for some love. A meeting with a friend turned my hand towards finishing that first. It made sense, I guess. With the space of two years, I’d have two books out. Twice as many products and so on.

After releasing Sin and Secrecy, I had truly had my fill of Berylford and the characters I’d been working on for over a decade. I needed a totally blank canvas. No traces of my old writing at all. And You Can Hear Chopin had already garnered such interest from fans in passing. A tale of a young hotelier protecting his schizophrenic wife from his Nazi clientele in 1940s Berlin. Unvisited concept and all that. I already had a story framework mapped out. It was ready for me to fill with research and plan out properly.

So, the answer to the question is, you can have too much of a good thing all at once. I had had 12 years of writing The Berylford Scandals… I needed a chance to work on something fresh. To challenge myself, if nothing else!

Will we ever return to Berylford?

However, the fact that people are asking about a third instalment to The Berylford Scandals can only be a good thing, right? The fanbase may be small but they like what they’re reading. So I can confirm that the historical mystery series is not done forever.

Thank you for reading. Do you have a question about my ongoing and future work? If so, get in touch via my Facebook and Instagram pages. Also read further posts out more about my latest novel, and stay up to date with my podcast.