Yes, Christmas is nearly upon us! Again! And yes, I’ve written another book, working title, Deadly Friends, which I sent to my agent this week. While I wait to hear whether it gets the thumbs up or the thumbs down, I’m swanning around with my head in the clouds, thinking up plots for the next book. It never stops!
Flying to Scotland, past the Lake District, with my head in the clouds
This past year has been a bit crazy, and all of my own doing. We came out of lockdown at the end of February, and I couldn’t bear to sit still. Where some people loved lockdown – hunkering at home, enjoying the change of pace – I absolutely hated it. I felt constrained, incarcerated, and little wonder I wrote a substandard book (currently buried at the bottom of my proverbial bottom drawer). I had no inspiration to call upon, and although I live somewhere beautiful, gazing at the same valley view day in, day out, simply sent my creative mind into a grey, sludge-funk.
So, 2022 saw me released like a pellet from a slingshot into living once again. Yay! First up, was getting back into our gorgeous RV-8 (once the engine had finally been re-built after its crankshaft was declared faulty, groan). We covered France, Cornwall, Norfolk, Wales, the Isle of Wight, and then a tour of Scotland, including flying down the Great Glen, which was absolutely magic. The best part was stopping for a pub lunch at Glenforsa. Loved parking the aeroplane on the foreshore and having a bowl of mussels and a pint (zero alcohol of course) before flying on!
Lunch stop, Glenforsa, with my own personal taxi standing by!
The camper took us through France and Spain, exploring wild and un-visited places as well as tame and touristy ones. But the place that blew me away was, amazingly, Kent! I couldn’t believe the quantity of castles and manor houses to be visited, including Rudyard Kipling’s house, Bateman’s. It’s my view that every author should have a house like his:
Bateman’s & Kipling’s study. I can relate to the countless writing drafts in the bin!
Another inspirational trip was to the Blue Dot Festival, a music and science event held at Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire. I was thrilled to attend talks not just by Tim Peak but Brian Cox and Libby Jackson. Sitting beneath the Lovell Telescope was humbling, and made me feel brilliantly small as I pondered all that astronomy and astrophysics while listening to Hannah Peel.
Blue Dot Festival, waiting to hear Metronomy
With all this travelling I’m amazed I actually wrote another book. How did that happen, I wonder?! I also read voraciously, not just crime thrillers, but sci-fi and booker winners, and here are my top three:
If you haven’t read Aussie author Chris Hammer yet, you’re in for a treat. His first novel, which I also loved, was Scrublands, where he wrote the most visceral and frightening scene of a bushfire that had me squeaking with fright on my sofa. Trust is the third in the series, which just keeps getting better.
The Englishman is an intelligent, fast-paced thriller that connects a disastrous French Foreign Legion operation to kidnap and murder in west London, and on to the gates of Russia’s most notorious prison. Unputdownable.
American Dirt is epic. Set in Mexico, a good woman is on the run with her son after their entire family was murdered by a brutal drug lord, who wants to kill them too. The level of detail covering their dangerous journey to the border is extraordinary. An exhilarating, gripping chase novel.
And so ends another missive from this West Country author. I shall let you know when my next book is out, but in the meantime, I wish you well and always happy reading some top books!
Warm wishes
CJ
© CJ Carver 2022