M.K. Turner's Blog: M K Turner, page 14

A Weekend Without Meredith!

Phew! I’m pleased to say that The Making of Meredith has had the second edit, and is now back with editor Steph for proof reading. Some sections have been amended, others removed, and little bits added here and there. And, I’m delighted to say, all the Beta readers enjoyed it! Many thanks to them for their feedback, I have for the best part used your suggestions.

Thanks also to those that voted on the cover, unfortunately it’s neck and neck, so there is still time. If you haven’t already voted which do you prefer Yellow or Mauve?

Still on course for an August publication, details to follow as soon as they’re available.

What will I do now? I’ve spent the best part of the last two months with this man. When I wasn’t working with him, I was certainly thinking about him, and although the latest in the Meredith & Hodge series is underway, (probably about half-way through) I think I need a weekend away from Meredith!

So, there is absolutely nothing in my diary, other than this blog, and going out to dinner with my husband, who has been neglected due to the amount of time I’ve been spending with Meredith.

 

When Monday comes around though it will be back at it. I have two projects on the go, the first is the Meredith & Hodge novel, where Ben Jacobs is wrongly accused of murder, and the second, a script for radio, which I am co-writing with my older (but newly found) sister Sharon Kelly. I haven’t written a script before and I am thoroughly enjoying it! Once done, I might convince her we need to do another.

That’s it for now, I’m off to put my feet up. Have a wonderful weekend.

And finally – The Making of Meredith is done – nearly

Despite my best intentions it’s almost five months since my last visit here. That sounds like a confession – and I do confess to being distracted from the task in hand on occasion – I could give many reasons, and even more excuses, but I’m delighted to announce that the first draft of my latest novel, now entitled, The Making of Meredith, has gone off to the editor.

It’s been an enjoyable journey for the best part, as to make sure I didn’t make errors in Meredith’s development based on the snippets revealed in his later life, I had to re-read all five novels in the series, and I enjoyed rediscovering some of the things I’d forgotten about Meredith. Yes, that is possible, and it helped me understand the flaws in his character, and whether they were nurture or nature.

I’m now in need a few more beta readers, if you are interested, please let me know as soon as possible. Please remember this is not a mystery or a thriller, but the story of Meredith from the age of eight until we meet him in Misplaced Loyalty.

With editing underway, and cover in progress, I can no longer avoid working on the blurb, which for me is far worse than writing the story, I think that may be a job for tomorrow though.

I also need help choosing the cover. I put some ideas to Antony, at ebook-designs, who has designed all of the Meredith & Hodge covers, and we’ve settled on a silhouette of Meredith against the back drop of the magnificent Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol. However, I’m now undecided on the colour scheme and the size of the silhouette, and have narrowed it down to those shown below, and would be delighted to receive your thoughts on this, which do you prefer? Please leave a comment to let me know. From the left A – D

            

I’m guessing that publication will be in mid-August sometime, I will keep you posted if that changes.

I am now going to get back to the Ben Jacobs story, which will be the sixth in the Meredith & Hodge series, and I am working on a radio script with Sharon Kelly, (my long lost sister) based on our finding each other.

Not enough hours as always, so must dash, thank you for your patience and encouragement, I’d better get back to it, those dogs don’t walk themselves… and I’m sure summer is on its way……..soon!

Going back to the beginning!

And… I’m back in the room, or at least writing again. I can’t believe it’s been three months since my last blog – I blame Christmas – so here’s a quick update. As previously mentioned I’ve been working on a couple of projects, neither of which were going as I wanted, and after re-reading and making various amendments and alterations I wasn’t satisfied. So, they have been filed in a ‘To sort out file’, and I will go back to them as and when I think I can sort them out. This left me in a quandary, as although I always have many story ideas floating around, I didn’t think there was anything that once started wouldn’t end up in the ‘To sort out’ file too, and I found other ways to fill my time.

While cleaning out a cupboard I came across the first note book I used when I started writing, and amongst the shopping lists, doodles, and reminders, I had noted down some story ideas. Nothing grabbed me, but I found the first draft of Meredith’s character, together with a basic biography of his past life, and that set me to thinking. Could I go back to the beginning of Meredith? Was there a story there? Should one go back? I certainly wanted to with Meredith, and when I thought about it, the answer I came up with was, yes.

Things often have to be taken back to the beginning to get them back on course, and there were many examples all around me. When my computer goes wrong, I’m told to ‘turn it off and back on again’, or ‘install and then reboot’. With phones we’re told to uninstall apps and start again, and all this going back to the beginning is reflected in the business world.

Following the recent banking crisis, things went back to basics for staff. Instead of being targeted and judged on their ability to get mortgage referrals, or increase the value of loans to boost profits, they were to be judged on customer satisfaction and retention.

My friend and I both worked together for a sizable corporate company many moons ago, and whilst of course they wanted to see income rising, and profits increasing, they also wanted customer service to be at the heart of what we did, to both retain those customers and cut down on complaints. It was a good sound business, and as a result it was sold on several times during the period I worked there and depending on who was at the helm, it was on and off the stock market. Each wave of new top management wanted to make their own mark, but to appease investors and the stock market , the focus switched a little more to the bottom line each time. The customer became less important, after all there were always more customers out there, profit today was king, and problems caused could be sorted tomorrow.

Many changes in procedure, staff, and administration were made, and for those of us at the coal face, they were not always for the best. Customers seemed to be paying more for less, and complaints were common place. The staff worked longer and longer hours just to keep the KPI’s rolling onward and upward, and that profit line growing. Toward the end of my time with the company, it was decided that now was the time to float it again. There was a need to strip out costs, and over a period of a couple of years, regional centres were closed, and or merged, administration was farmed out to India, and each month a new round of redundancies was announced. I became one of those statistics, and although it was a shock, it took only weeks for me to realise I was never going back that way again.

My friend who remained there, absorbed shock wave after shock wave, and each time we spoke, another face had moved on, stress levels were rising, and if things hadn’t changed I think she would have too, but someone had a brainwave on how to improve the company which may have saved her sanity, or did they?

They didn’t. What they did was go full circle, right back to where we first started. The customer was to come first, as if service levels improved, the money will follow, which it invariably does. Of course some things have changed, technology for one, but the basic premise on how the business is to be run was to go back to the beginning. Now my almost stress free friend, sits at the meeting table listening to how they will reinvent the wheel, and smiles encouragingly. She’s been there, and done that, and I’m delighted for her.

Thinking about all this was all that was needed to set me off on the first draft of my current project. I was in essence going back to the beginning, switching it off and back on again. I would write a prequel. I would find out how Meredith developed his personality and attitude to life, and I already had the outline. It was fingers on keyboard, and out he tumbled. I’m not sure of the title yet, probably simply Meredith, nor do I know how long it’s likely to take to complete it, but this one is not headed for the ‘To Sort File.’

Now I must dash, he’s in trouble at school.

Back soon,

Sshh, the Russians are watching – Me?

Those of you that read my last post will know I lost my website for several weeks. Now I’m back up and running and everything has settled, I thought I’d take a look at Google Analytics to see how the crash had affected the hits on my site.

I was surprised at my findings to say the least. It appears I have come to the attention of the Russians. Given the current situation with Syria, Russia, and the US, my daughter joked that I shouldn’t draw attention to myself by blogging about it, but I decided to take the risk that my musings wouldn’t have an impact on international affairs – or given the storyline the Russian Mafia – gulp!

The analysis of people visiting the site always amazes me, and the fact that someone in some far flung corner of the world has looked at my site always brings a smile. The main hits come from the UK, Australia and America, with a spattering around the various countries of Europe, so imagine my surprise when I saw that despite the site being down for almost a month, during that month I’d had 102 hits from Russia, and was reliably informed that 98.15% of them were new users.

I decided to investigate further, and have come to the conclusion that One Secret Too Many has caused the interest. It was released on 28th March 2015, since its release I’ve had no fewer than 1398 hits from Russia, 95% of them being new users, as shown on the following chart. For the entire time the website has been live and up to the point of its release, the site had only had 22 visits from Russia.

 

So One Secret Too Many is the cause, but it would have been nice if all those taking a peep had bought the book to ensure there were no secret messages hidden in the text! You never know they may have become Meredith & Hodge followers too.

I was about to sign off when a thought occurred to me, as I’m currently working on The Cuban Conundrum, which should be out by the end of the year, I wonder if I’ll see any hits from Cuba? I hope so, with any luck they’ll invite me over to discuss the detail.

If you find you have some time on your hands, and you haven’t already done so, you might want to read One Secret Too Many, and see what all the fuss is about. You can buy it here by the way- click HERE

Have a wonderful weekend

So much to do, so little time – Something’s got to give!

Disaster strikes again! Those of you that have followed the trials and tribulations I have experienced since I started writing will know that I am, for the best part, technically challenged when it comes to most things to do with IT. I won’t bore you with my past history, however several weeks ago I wrote a blog and attempted to log into my website to load it…and there it was – gone!

The ominous message ‘Page cannot be found’ filled the screen. I tried many different ways to find it, but in the end took advice and was told that the host server had gone down, and worst of all, had lost the back-ups for my website. I have no idea how the host is supposed to behave, but I’m certain that backing up its ‘guests’ should come near the top of the ‘to do’ list, together with being able to provide a backup when everything goes belly up. The chaps that put the website together for me got on to it, and bits and bobs were collected from all over the internet, put together, and we are almost, but not quite, back to where we were. A few parts still need attention (so please bear with me), but at least the site is up and running, and they have found me what they promise is a more reliable host.

To say it’s been a chore is an understatement, one of the things that I lost was my list of subscribers. I didn’t have thousands, but I was approaching the two hundred mark. I have therefore been wading through emails I had yet to delete, in an attempt to find reference to new subscribers or comments made on various blogs, and I have managed to cobble a list of a mere forty together. It’s been tedious, frustrating, and made me curse on several occasions. Here was yet another thing taking up time when I would rather be writing.

Writers, particularly indie authors, are constantly urged to do the following: Set up a Facebook page and post daily, join twitter and tweet regularly, have a website where readers can find out about your books and you, have a blog and write interesting posts as often as possible………Oh yes, and if you can, try writing a novel or two a year.

I’ve managed to do all of those things over a period of time, not all of them well, as I also work part-time, have a family, oh, and did I mention the three dogs that need walking twice a day? I thought so!

I’ve tried many different methods to help keep on top of things; a schedule allocating portions of the day to the various media requiring my attention, having days when I only did one of the things on the list (regarding only social media of course, I still went to work, walked the dogs, and fed the family), and various other methods. Needless to say, however I tried to do all those things which I’m constantly reminded I should do, and keep to the latest schedule, it didn’t always work. Not only did I find I wasn’t capable of being creative, or entertaining, or quick witted on demand, even when I believed I had several hours during which I could achieve wonderful things, the doorbell would ring and a visitor would arrive, or a friend I hadn’t seen for twenty or more years would invite me out to lunch and my plan would be foiled again.

I’ve had days when I felt totally inadequate being unable to keep all the plates spinning, and as a result achieved nothing, so I have decided to stop forcing it. I will concentrate on whatever takes my fancy, or grabs my imagination, on any given day. The only rule I have is to do something, however small relating to my writing, and tick something off the list of ‘to do’ each day. I’ve paid scant attention to my Facebook author page, and that will now only have links to new posts on the website, but I will still be active on my personal page.

Today for instance I’m writing this, and when I’ve finished I’ll getting back to writing the final chapters of The Cuban Conundrum. It is true that with somethings less is more. I still get side tracked with Facebook, and silently curse whoever shared the video of the cute puppies making friends with a hippo or suchlike, but I do get something down in writing without the pressure of having to do so.

I’m waffling now, so I’ll leave you to it, if you did not originally subscribe to the website, and do not want updates, please feel free to unsubscribe – I will not be offended. If you do want to stick around, welcome!

I’m off to walk the dogs, and will be back soon………..I hope.

Shock, Horror, Amazement, and it’s all in the Family!

Most of us have started to read a book or watch a film, decided how it’s going to end, and been right. We may have not guessed the correct path to that ending, but the way the characters were presented told us instinctively what would happen. For the best part it’s like that with life. We know who we are, who our family are, and what makes us all tick. Therefore, give or take, we can predict fairly accurately what will or might happen to us.

For instance, I have two children and a bunch of nieces and nephews, I think it’s a fair guess to say that I will become a grandmother or great aunt before I pop my clogs – it’s simply a matter of patience. I’m fortunate to be part of a close family, and as a consequence, I know that if the chips were down in any way I could rely on my brother or sisters for support. Even though we don’t live in each other’s pockets, I know if I needed cheering up I could organise a family get together and we would eat, drink and be merry, probably dance, and almost definitely sing – badly.

In September 2014 my mum died. It was not unexpected as she’d been ill for some time, but it was still a shock. To lose the person who was always there, the one you knew inside out, and she you, comes as a shock however well you think you have prepared for the inevitable. When I wrote about losing mum, my blog was seen by over a thousand people, one commented what a lovely piece it was, and even though they hadn’t met her they felt they knew her. Having lost mum, we all focused our attention on dad, they’d been together for over fifty five years and he was as devastated as one would expect. I cannot describe how I felt, when one evening he asked me to sit down as he had something to tell me. My mind raced at the possibilities as he left the room for a moment, and when he came back he could barely hold back the tears as he announced he was going to tell me something he should have told me when mum died. I thought the worst, as he too has had a few health problems lately, and therefore I was surprised when he handed me the photograph of a beautiful, smiling, baby girl.

SHOCK

“Who’s this?” I asked, turning the photograph over and reading it was a two year old named Sharon. I have a sister called Sharon, but it wasn’t her.

“Your sister.” He replied simply.

Again I jumped to conclusions, and assumed that he had had an affair at some stage, and the shock at his next statement left me speechless.

“Your mum had a baby before I met her, and had to give her up for adoption. That’s her, I thought you should know.”

HORROR

My mum? Impossible! Mum was very prim and proper, prudish even, and would hold the newspaper in front of her face when anything saucy, (think Carry On movies) came on the TV. How could she have had a baby at that age?

Needless to say there were a thousand questions, only a few of which my dad could answer. The shock I had initially felt was quickly replaced with horror. How, had my mum, at the tender age of sixteen coped with childbirth, and then having to give up that baby? She had been sent away from home to have the child, and allowed to go back and visit her before her adoption was finalised. How on earth had she coped? Mum loved babies, and this one was hers, how did she manage to deal with that sort of heartache? How had my Grandmother handled the situation? Had people – family, neighbours, and friends, all known about it? Of course! It was not acceptable to fall pregnant outside of marriage in the fifties. It was shameful, embarrassing, and girls ended up labelled with horrible names, and were ‘used’ goods.

I wanted to cry for her. No wonder she had such a thing about protecting her privacy, impeccable behaviour in public, never causing a fuss, and avoiding giving the gossips something to talk about. She’d been at the wrong end of that when little more than a child herself. So many things about mum, and her odd ways and beliefs, made sense now, and I wished she’d told us about her first born. I wish she’d let us tell her and show her it was alright.

Then dad told me that my sister, the one I had never met, had contacted mum when she’d had her own child. They had met, but mum refused to tell us about her or let us meet her, as she thought we would be ashamed of her for giving up her baby. I believe she knew us well enough to know that wouldn’t be the case, and the truth was that she was ashamed of herself. I can’t imagine how hard that was for her, or how awful my sister must have felt.

Mum had been little more than a child, and would have been given no choice in the matter, but she was given a secret, and a shame, that she carried her whole life. The only slight relief I felt as I considered this, was that she had told my dad. He accepted that she had had a child, he loved her, he married her, and he gave her four babies she was allowed to keep, but not even he could convince her to tell us, and as it was her secret not his, he held his tongue and shared that secret burden. He shed tears of relief that that weight had been lifted, and was delighted when I confirmed I wanted to find this missing member of our family, and I knew the others would too.

AMAZEMENT

Once I’d left dad and stored mum’s sorrow away, an excitement took hold. It was amazing to know that I had an older sister! I was no longer the eldest child! We were five and not four! I spoke to my siblings and we were in total agreement that we had to find her! With no disrespect to our mum, there would be no more secrets, sod the gossips, members of our family were missing and had to be found.

It took us less than twenty-four hours to find our new, old, sister, Sharon, and I’m delighted to say that she was pleased to have been found. She lives in Spain, has one son, and is also a writer. We exchanged emails and messages, and arranged to meet when Sharon was next in the UK. Before the meeting we were speculative, nervous, and very emotional, but that disappeared in minutes once she had arrived. We talked, we ate, we drank, and we even had a little karaoke session. There were no awkward moments, a few revelations, but it seemed comfortable in a way that is only possible with your nearest and dearest. There are still many years to catch up on, and we’ve yet to meet our nephew, Sid, a handsome young man, who boosts my chances of a becoming a great aunt, but we’re getting there. My husband and I are going to Spain to visit Sharon in early September, and my dad and younger sister Sharon are going later that month.

Having two sisters called Sharon may cause a few confusions, and our newly found sister’s adopted parents had a son, so she already had a brother called Chris, who is living in Australia. Hopefully he will also want to become part of our ever expanding family. To clarify, in order of birth we now have, Sharon, Marcia, Christopher, Julie, Christopher, Sharon, and we’re all delighted to be confused.

The photos show us at our first meeting, my brother Chris, has asked that I describe him accurately as 6’2” with a full head of hair, I’ve yet to meet the Chris in Australia, perhaps he was speaking about him…..

This certainly demonstrates that one should always expect the unexpected, and all I can say is that I hope all future shocks are as fabulously amazing as this one!

Chirpy as an Easter Chick

Happy Easter one and all, I hope you are all enjoying the holiday, and that the sun has shone on you. My desk is in the conservatory at the moment, and it’s glorious in here.

I’m delighted to say the first review is in on One Secret Too Many, and it’s been given five stars by the very kind Susan Haughton in the US. Here’s what she had to say:

‘Just when you wonder how this series can get any better, it does. This is the most riveting Meredith and Hodges book yet and I could not put it down. With its many twists and turns, I was so caught up in what I believed to be the most obvious “secret” of the book, I simply did not see the explosive ending coming. Buckle up, this is a great ride and read.’

It’s impossible to explain how nervous an author is when a new release is out, particularly if that release is one of a series, and readers following that series have expectations – there is a lot of nail biting, and perhaps an extra glass of wine! So, it was a huge relief when I read Susan’s review as she has followed Meredith & Hodge since Misplaced Loyalty, the first in the series. Huge thanks for your kind review Susan, it does mean a lot to me.

Reviews mean a lot to all authors, so please take the time to review the books you read, even if it’s a brief statement like: “I loved this book”, or “Not really my cup of tea, but I liked the plot.” Not only does it provide feedback to the author, it also points other readers in the right direction.

The review is obviously one of the reasons I’m chirpy, the other is I have stuck to my promise to read more. I am currently at the closing chapters of Lost Boys by Mackenzie Brown, and I’ve been hooked since the first page where I found the story was told by an eleven year old girl – but more of that next time.

Before starting this I re-read A Kind of Loving by Stan Barstow. It wasn’t as much of a shock as when I was thirteen, and despite knowing what was coming, I still urged Vic Brown, the main character to take a different course. I felt the same disappointment as I did all those years ago when he settled for a kind of loving, rather than find the love of his life, the special person, his soul mate who he knew was out there somewhere.

Set in Yorkshire in the late fifties it’s difficult to imagine, that despite the mess Vic finds himself in, life was so simple and clear cut. There were rules and you followed them, if you didn’t there was a code of conduct and you stuck to it – even if that means a hurried wedding with no fanfare. It’s difficult to explain why this tale is so compelling but it is, and if you haven’t read it give it a go, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. I have already downloaded the second two in the Vic Brown trilogy, and whilst I’m itching to read them I have Lost Boys to finish and two others on my list first. You will note I am being very disciplined, and it’s paying dividends, as I’m also itching to get back to writing – but first I read!

I’m off to write a review, then feet up with a cup of tea and a hot cross bun, and back to Lost Boys.

Enjoy the rest of the holiday, I’ll leave you with a not so chirpy chick – made me smile!

   

What now? Another good book!

And relax! One Step Too Many, the latest Meredith & Hodge novel is now available as an eBook – initial downloads look promising. Antony at Freshly Squeezed has produced a fab full cover for the paperback, and I await the physical proof, so with a fair wind that should also be available in a couple of weeks. Lots of Facebook & Twitter friends are sharing the news, so huge thanks for your kindness, and I must continue with my feeble attempts at promotion. You can buy it HERE by the way     But, promotion aside, here’s the question I’m faced with: What now?

Try as I might, I simply can’t concentrate on any of my writing projects – as you know I usually have at least two on the go, so, if one isn’t working I can get on with the other. It’s disjointed but it works for me. However, at the moment I’m lucky if I can get a sentence down without being distracted, and I have many distractions, Ted, Archie, Molly, (my pups), work, cooking, cleaning, Facebook, Twitter…the list is endless, but that’s always been the case, and it usually helps. I work far better leaving something half done, because it gives me time to re-think it, and when I go back to it it’s all there waiting to come out – whatever the latest distraction. I wrote most of Tin Soldiers with new puppy Molly on my lap. It’s not as though I’m stuck on the storyline, or how a character might react, I simply have an inability to bring it all together at the moment.

My solution? I’m going to read instead! I’m always in the middle of reading something, but where I used to get through several books a month, I’ve probably only read four books in the last six months, and I’m determined to change that. I have a Kindle full of books waiting for me, most by other indie authors who have caught my eye, some by my old and trusted favourites, and some by those who fall in between. I’ve already made a start by reading Diamonds & Dust: A Victorian Murder Mystery by Carol Hedges. What a good choice that was! I ‘met’ Carol on Twitter, she is witty, writes a great blog, and is forever doing battle with Harpenden Town Council.

Diamonds & Dust transports you back to dank, smelly, smoggy, Victorian London. Our heroine Josephine has already had a tough life, and when her uncle is brutally murdered she is devastated. Determined to get to the truth she becomes involved in the investigation. Wonderfully atmospheric, and written in the present tense, you join Josephine observing, and having to overcome, the cruel inequality of class and gender. Refreshingly, rather than deliver clichés, Diamonds & Dust provides us with unlikely bravery and steadfast resolve from some wonderful characters, my particular favourite was Oi. The story is littered with little snippets of humour, which creep in when you are least expecting them and add to the pleasure of an already entertaining story. I had no idea what to expect and was not disappointed, a five star read! I will certainly be adding Carol Hedges to my ‘must read more of’ list.

Go and take a peep – you can find Diamonds & Dust here: http://bookgoodies.com/a/B00H0C9JG2

 Together with another of Carol’s novels, I’m also going to re-read some of my classic favourites, starting with A Kind of Loving by Stan Barstow. This was the first ‘grown-up’ book I can remember reading, probably when I was about thirteen – a kind sixth former borrowed it from the school library for me. Not that Agatha Christie, wasn’t grown-up of course, but Poirot and Marple didn’t get into messy relationships, those leading a working class life were generally only mentioned fleetingly, and they all had a satisfactory or happy ending. I’m keen to see if my memory serves me well. Following that, the other novel I’ve chosen is Lost Boys by Mackenzie Brown, another author I ‘met’ via Twitter. I chose this because the description of the story was short, sharp and intriguing – once more I have no idea what to expect, but will let you know in the fullness of time.

That’s it for now – I’m off to roast a leg of lamb, and then settle down with another good book, and as always will leave you with a picture of the Three Pupperteers, as taken by daughter Ellie, and tweaked with a magic app!

Happy reading,

 

One Secret Too Many – Available for pre-order

I’m delighted to advise that editor Steph, from edit-my-book.com, has almost completed working her magic, and the eBook version of One Secret Too Many is available for pre-order – click here to pre-order, and on sale from 28th March 2015! The paperback version will be another month or so as the cover can’t be completed until the final page count is available. I’ve not used the pre-order service before, and I’m hoping that it helps raise the profile on Amazon, therefore I would like to beg a huge favour if you are planning on getting this novel, by asking you to pre-order it to enable me to judge the effectiveness of this service. You will not be charged until 28th March, and One Secret Too Many will automatically be available for your reading device on the 28th. If you do pre-order please let me know as I will then be able to measure the accuracy of the reports I receive.

One Secret Too Many

DCI John Meredith has two horrific murders to solve, both committed several years ago, and believed to be connected to a Russian drugs ring watched closely by the Secret Intelligence Service. This concerns Meredith, but keen to take on the challenge and make a name for himself, he throws himself into the case. As a result Meredith’s team find themselves under scrutiny, and perhaps for good reason, as it soon becomes clear that Meredith is keeping secrets from them. After placing himself in a compromising situation, Meredith becomes too close to the Russians with fatal consequences.

Patsy Hodge has also been cleared to work for the Secret Intelligence Service, something that Meredith is less than happy about. Her first role, which she considers a boring one, is working for the Hatton brothers who are close to perfecting the world’s most efficient body armour. The Hattons have a contract with the MOD, but they too have secrets which Patsy struggles to uncover. Once she does, she finds that her case is linked to the murders being investigated by Meredith, and lives are at risk.

When Meredith is accused of murder, and his sergeant Louie Trump is suspended from duty, Patsy must decide whether to confront the Hattons and her superiors or place her trust in Meredith. Convinced that senior members of the SIS and possibly the government are involved in a cover up, Meredith arranges a meeting in the hope that he can reveal the truth. He does, but not everyone survives, and things will never be the same again.

Now I have to begin the daunting task of promotion, promotion, and yet more promotion – and will do that just as soon as I’ve walked the dogs, commonly known, by which I mean our family and friends as the three pupperteers.

Happy Reading

Creating Characters – can you help?

With One Secret Too Many away at the editors, I’ve set my mind to the next challenge. I mentioned in a blog a little while back, that I had resurrected a story I began writing many moons ago when the children were young. I felt it had promise, and all I had to do was bring it up to date (no mobile phones then, and one character wasted valuable time looking for a phone box!), and  more crucially, I had to work out what happened in the end.

On my second read through, I found that the main character reminded me a lot of Ben Jacobs, Meredith’s singer friend, so, in an about turn I’m now rewriting it as a Meredith & Hodge novel. This gives me an added issue as it means I must decide Meredith’s course of action after the ending of One Secret Too Many, and I’m dithering! If I can’t make up my mind, how on earth is Meredith supposed to cope? As you can imagine this makes moving the story on hard work, but it is moving on.

The working title is Ben Jacobs, and here’s a little of what it’s about:

Ben Jacobs finds himself charged with Murder – did he do it? The CCTV evidence suggests that he did. Meredith isn’t assigned to the case, and wants to help prove his friend is innocent, but his attempts are thwarted at the outset when Ben absconds from custody, and goes on the run. Meredith & Hodge are drawn in to helping not only prove his innocence, but solving the crime he is accused of.

Most of the old faces will be there, and a few new characters, who I am working on at the moment, and here’s where I would like some suggestions. I find that writing about characters created by other people’s imagination helps me question my original outline. It brings a new focus into play. How will that person interact with other characters, how do they effect decisions made by others,  will events turn out differently to how I imagined. I find that as in life, just when you think you know how the day will pan out, someone throws a spanner in the works, or turns up unexpectedly, and plans need to be changed, tweaked, or even abandoned as a result. It makes life a little more interesting, even though it may cause frustration.

 Louie Trump was suggested by my friend Jane. We were away on a weekend Spa break and I was explaining I needed to introduce a character to shake up Meredith’s team. She came up with the name, the fact that he would be intelligent, well spoken, not pushy, and a thoroughly nice chap. He had to be an all-round good guy to compliment Meredith’s moodiness. In One Secret Too Many, there is a character called Stephen Hatton, he was suggested by my Twitter friend, https://twitter.com/RiojaPlease. Stephen, as that’s his name, and Hatton, as at the time he was wearing a fetching hat in his picture. He had previously educated me on the properties of Kevlar, which I’d never heard of, and I promised to use it in a novel, which I did. When I told him about this he also gave me the character. He was happy for Stephen Hatton to be on the wrong side of the law, but didn’t want him to be too bad. I hope he likes him when he gets to meet him!

With the latest project, I am working on two characters, one good, one bad, if you fancy giving me some ideas, here is the basis of characters I need:

Bad Guy: Night Club Owner, DVD manufacturer, into shady dealings…in what? I need a name where the initials would make a good club name. He’s middle aged, and financed by his father-in-law. What does he look like? Is he Bristolian? Is he ‘rough and ready’ or a charmer?

Possible Love Interest: When he first escapes, Ben Jacobs, almost literally crashes into a young woman. What’s her name? She is in a troubled marriage, and he asks for her help. She agrees as she needs something to spice up her life. Does she have children, if so how many? She has money, but was this always the case? How does she know Patsy? Should she give into Ben’s charm, and is Ben genuinely interested in her, or just using her? Will she have a skill or knowledge that will help them?

Would you like to create one of these characters? If so, either message or email me with your thoughts on the character you would like to see in print, and I’ll get to work.

Off to walk the dogs and ponder Meredith’s decision. Looking forward to meeting YOUR characters.

Back soon,