Lastnight - the fifth Jack Nightingale novel - is
done and dusted. I signed off on the line edit yesterday which means it's now
off to the printers! There was surprisingly little to do edit-wise, a few hours
work at most. I'm always surprised at professional writers who have to spend
weeks rewriting. I figure it's much better to get it right the first time and
so I am constantly self-editing in my head as I write. I quite often delete a
paragraph I've just written if I feel it wasn't right. I've never seen the
point of saying that a book is finished but that it's a first
draft. "And now the real work starts" is a common refrain from
writers after the first draft is done, but me, I'd rather get it right the
first time!
The story was fun to write - even though it has
a pretty gory plot line with lots of Goths being murdered in London.
And it was great to research, I spent quite a lot of time in Goth hangouts in
London and have become a serious fan of a bar called Garlic and Shots in
Soho. You can visit their website HERE
The cover was designed several months ago,
and I like it a lot.
Lastnight is the first of my books to be edited by
Oliver Johnson, who also edits John Grisham in the UK. He lives south of the
river which is helpful and he spotted several errors I'd made in describing
Clapham! Who knew that the windmill had gone from the Common? Well, Oliver
did!
Publication is set for January 16. I'm about to
write a Jack Nightingale short story which I hope will be fun. Then I'm getting
started on the new Spider Shepherd book. Busy, busy, busy!
Lastnight is already available on pre-order on
Amazon - YOU CAN PRE-ORDER HERE
