Daynote - Mon 16th Sep 2024

And wow - back to reality. I'm back at the day job today after an incredible weekend at Bloody Scotland. I was a Crime in the Spotlight reader on Saturday, and I got to read from my novel to several hundred people in the Albert Halls just before Frank Gardner's conversation with Ruth Wishart. I got to chat to Frank in the Green Room beforehand and at our shared signing table, where we both managed to sell out of books! It was an absolutely perfect cap to an amazing launch week.

ON DECK: Although launch week was AMAZING and a whole lot of fun, it was a quiet relief to get back to the routine this morning. 1,216 words on PROJECT SCARLET this morning, before getting out for a glorious walk in the mid-September woods. Autumn is really here and it feels great.

There's still going to be a bunch of stuff to do on A RELUCTANT SPY though - my friend Nick Binge very sensibly told me to treat launch day as a starting gun, rather than a finishing line. The audiobook launches tomorrow, which I'm very excited about. Plus I have three podcast recordings and my first ever school visit as a writer lined up for the next few weeks!

LISTENING: Back to chilling to the Living in the Library playlist this morning.

WATCHING: We watched this incredible video of a beautiful house in Norway wrapped in a giant greenhouse and to be quite honest I want to live there.

READING: I came back from Bloody Scotland with a stack of new books (as is tradition) but I'm still working on NINTH LIFE. Didn't read a word of it while I was away, but I'm hoping as things calm down a little this week I'll have a bit more time.

UP NEXT: Back into the routine and very happy about that. I'm working on the PROJECT SCARLET sample this week and I'm reasonably hopeful I'll finish it by the end of this week or the middle of next. Then it'll be back onto PROJECT SHARD for the big edit with my agent's notes. Plus A RELUCTANT SPY promo, podcasts and more. It's going to be a busy few months.