What do you mean, who are you?

I’m me! Yes, I’ve been crap with updating this and sending it out over the last few months but I’ve been pretty busy.

#Music

This week’s tune is Holy Holy by Geordie Greep.

(I thought they were a band called Geordie Creep, which would be a very different thing. That’s his name.)

It’s absolutely insane, like a cross between Steely Dan and, God knows, The Fall? I can’t access it and it keeps dragging me back in.

#Last Week

Okay, so the last few weeks...

I can’t remember the last time I wrote to you, but I’ve just LAST NIGHT finished the first draft of Marshall 7, FEAR OF ANY KIND. It’s written as a screenplay, but it comes to 360 pages now. That’s a six hour film. Or 6x60 minute episodes. But I’m really, really happy with how it’s come out. And in perfect time to shut off for Xmas before my brain goes.

You’ll have to wait for a bit for it to come out -- we’re gunning for the 31st March. I’ve got book 8 sculpted out, so that’ll be off the rank a few months after that. Maybe six months.

#This Week I’ll be sitting on my bum and watching stuff or playing games this week. But I thought I’d go through some other stuff that’s ongoing.

Angus King has been working his way through the Vicky Dodds books for audio. The first two are out now, but it’s a mere nine days until book 3. Then the next two drop a month apart.

After I reworked Dead in the Water (now over 60k! And it makes sense!), he’s started narrating the Police Scotland books but we ran into a bit of an issue where it was taking a lot longer to narrate the second book than it would, say, a Marshall. Like four times as long. And so I’ve decided to edit the second, third, fourth and fifth books, which haven’t been touched since 2014 and my style has developed a lot since then. So, as well as finishing Marshall 7, I’ll be reworking those books. It’ll be interesting to see how much survives as I suspect they’re pretty rough and basic, without the descriptive stuff I do nowadays, etc. But it’ll be good to get Mr Cullen in the best shape he can be. And maybe put in some cheeky additional stuff, e.g. an appearance or two by Craig Hunter. This happened back in 2024, so it’s all just a case of history repeating.

I reworked a quarter of something else, which took away a week or so of work, but it’s in a much better place. Hopefully there’ll be some news on that score.

Anyway, that’s quite enough from me -- have a great New Year. There’ll be a Christmas Eve blast to the full mailing list, so keep your peepers peeled for that.

Cheers,
Ed