Daynote - Thu 24 Oct

It's me! On a podcast!

Grey clouds with slivers of blue sky, TV aerials and a tree
A cloudsome view

Lovely walk this morning, three deer in the field, many leaves underfoot and a marvellously textured sky. Every time I miss walks for a few days and then resume them, I am very glad.

Got home to find myself in my podcast list - this morning I'm on 'Confessions of A Debut Novelist' with Chloe Timms.

When I was first getting into this whole publishing malarkey, I found Chloe's podcast and hoovered up a hundred plus episodes. It was fascinating (and sometimes a little scary) to hear the sheer range of people's debut experiences. I think it's a must-listen for anyone who aspires to having a book traditionally published. A real privilege and pleasure to be on the show.

ON DECK: I cut 3,548 words from the draft of Ridealong this morning, then added 181. So it goes. It's nice to switch genres and vibes, but I'm also facing a fairly drastic rewrite of this story, I think. I'm not entirely convinced about it as yet. But I'll get it done over the next week or so, I'd expect.

LISTENING: More excellent podcasts. I really enjoyed this Spybrary panel interview with Nick Harkaway (he's popping up on every spy-related podcast I listen to, which is... a lot). And I loved this interview with I.S. Berry (who very kindly blurbed A RELUCTANT SPY) on the excellent Spymasters podcast.

WATCHING: We're doing a lot of short stuff at the moment. A couple of episodes of BOB'S BURGERS (never less than hilarious) and more WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS.

READING: Made a start on Tom Hindle's latest DEATH IN THE ARCTIC last night, which I was lucky enough to receive an early proof of. So far, so murderous. Great stuff.

UP NEXT: Probably Ridealong for this week and next, unless Something Happens Contractually. But we'll see how we go. Publishing marches to the beat of its own drum and it's best to feed the silences with creating your body of work.