Daynote - Wed 7th Aug 2024
A new blurb and and a bunch of words.
One of the cool things about this writing life is people (often readers but in this case another author) just appearing in your inbox with bloody lovely things to say. And yesterday was a prime example, with Dr Chris Merritt, author of no less than eight crime and thriller novels, having this to say! I met Chris at Bloody Scotland last year after he moderated a panel with Charles Cumming and James Naughtie and he was extremely welcoming (at the time I had a book deal but it wasn't yet announced, so I was carefully whispering it to people at events). Many authors get absolutely bombarded with requests to blurb, so I am deeply appreciative of everyone who has said yes to a copy over the past few months. And the steady trickle of extremely nice responses in my inbox has been a real morale booster, let me tell you.
ON DECK: I really hit the groove this morning - 1,926 words in the outline for the PROJECT SCARLET, the potential next Legends book, in just over an hour and I FINISHED it. Very happy to have got that done before WorldCon, so now I can let it percolate for a bit and then get into writing a good sample.
LISTENING: Writing at that speed, it had to be Bicep.
WATCHING: Finished up HOUSE OF THE DRAGON yesterday. Good stuff, though I kind of hate a 'big battle next season' cliffhanger like that. But some absolutely fantastic one-on-one character scenes in this season. It's a lot more compelling than the first season for sure.
READING: More SPOOK STREET and it's still fantastic.
UP NEXT: WorldCon! I did my main bag packing last night, so I just need to throw together the last few bits and pieces for the bag I'll carry with me to the convention itself then get an early night. I'll have my laptop with me (for workshops and showing stuff to people and keeping on top of Discord stuff) so I may just sneak away now and again and do a tiny but of the PROJECT SCARLET sample, but also I won't beat myself up if I don't. So now I'm just mentally preparing myself for the scale of WorldCon and trying to work out if I've forgotten to pack anything crucial. But I'm only going to Glasgow, and also Glasgow has shops. I'm sure I'll be fine.