Well, summer’s over – or certainly seems to be since there’s a “real feel” temperature outside of just 4° – but I’m feeling exceedingly cheery having just signed a new book deal with Bloodhound Books, woo hoo! Time to celebrate!
Celebrating sending my latest manuscript to my publisher
Now, I’m in that weird space before I settle back to writing again, where I go on long creative walks from my Wiltshire village and throw ideas at walls on my return, to see what sticks. I read massively during this period, newspapers, magazines, novels, and I watch more TV than usual too, hoovering everything up and looking for inspiration. Inspiration can, however, come to me when I least expect it.
During the initial creative phase, I go on long creative walks from my Wiltshire village
An example is when we were flying our beautiful home-built RV-8 over the coast of the Black Isle, Scotland, and I looked down, wondering how, if you’d been shipwrecked and had to swim to shore, you would scale the cliffs. You’d be exhausted and freezing cold, how to survive? These thoughts led to my main character Tom suffering a terrifying ordeal at sea in my latest novel.
Flying over the coast of the Black Isle gave me the inspiration for a terrifying ordeal in my latest thriller
I managed to get to Scotland for some salmon fishing in September, which proved to be exceptionally good for my creative spirit as I returned home determined to set a book there. It wasn’t just the beauty of the highlands that inspired me, but the lifestyle and culture, peppered with great characters from ghillies and estate keepers to publicans and police officers.
Fishing at dawn on the River Spey was inspiring, if somewhat chilly! (You can see my fishing line on the left of the picture, I nearly fell in taking it!)
Starting a book from scratch is always daunting, but with larger-than-life characters to hand, along with an engaging setting, I think I’ve made a good start. Now I just need the dramatic question which will drive the book, along with what’s at stake for my main characters. That’s all, really! Next, is to write an outline, but I know it will still take some time before I get to that point. More walking, more reading, more throwing ideas at walls…
The beauty of the Scottish Highlands has inspired me to set a book there
Other news is that I have another book looking for a home. This one is my first psychological thriller and is in the hands of my agent. It’s somewhat different from my usual fare so we’re marketing it under a pseudonym to differentiate the styles.
I’m fascinated by psychology, which certainly helped when writing my psychological thriller. I love trying to find what makes people tick. How they’re shaped by their childhoods. My own upbringing, on a dairy farm, was pretty happy until I was sent away to boarding school. Eight years old, badly bullied, I silently hoarded cheese until I thought I had enough, then ran away.
Eight years old and badly bullied at boarding school, I ran away
The police eventually picked me up and returned me to school. When I began hoarding food again, the bullies came to me and asked if they could come too. I became their leader on a school break-out one Saturday afternoon, and although we were picked up the police fairly quickly, I was never bullied again.
Writing exposes the author as much as it informs about the calibre of gun the villain uses, and I’m not sure what a professional psychologist would say about me if they studied my books. Addicted to adventure, perhaps, and good underwear.
I guess I have a bit of a David and Goliath complex from being bullied – I do love seeing the bad guys swallow some of their own medicine!
On another note, I’m delighted to say my latest novel, A Treachery of Friends, is going really well after its initial blast into the top 100 crime fiction novels on Amazon. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the book to help it on its way, it meant a lot!
Reviews are really important to authors
Over the summer, I read a couple of scorchingly fantastic books:
This was the Sunday Times thriller of the Year, and you can see why when both the former director of the CIA and the ex-head of MI6 rave about it, saying it’s the most accurate fictional account of what it’s like working in today’s intelligence services.
Full of tradecraft and heart-in-the-mouth action, I couldn’t put it down. It’s written by a former CIA analyst, and drips with reality in all its absorbing and awful forms. I can’t wait to read his next.
A twisty, super-fast thriller from one of the masters. A young woman goes missing. She’s last seen on CCTV, entering a dead-end alley, but she never emerges. What a cracking start to a mystery!
I especially liked this book because it asks some serious questions about choosing between right or wrong, family or justice. I’m not sure if I would have followed the Detective Chief Inspector’s thinking but I was gripped by all the torment she had to go through. I thoroughly enjoyed another of her books, Wrong Place Wrong Time, so if you haven’t tried McAllister, you’ve got a great couple of reads to look forward to.
I hope your summer went well, wherever you were, Cornwall or the Caribbean, and that you all read some great books.
Warm wishes
CJ
© CJ Carver 2024