C.L. Taylor's Blog, page 8

HarperCollins, Harrogate and HOORAY, I’ve delivered book 4!

July is the highlight of my year, writing wise. Not only did I attend the fabulous HarperCollins author summer party in the early part of this month but, last weekend, I went to the amazing Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Festival in Harrogate. I also attended a library event in Hitchin and was made incredibly welcome by the librarians and readers. It was a bit of a trek from Bristol but I’m so glad I went.

I always feel a bit like Cinderella when I go to the HarperCollins party. Because I...

Chez Castillon, charity &…er…charging towards my deadline!

After a frantic April the last six weeks or so have been much quieter. I deliberately didn’t book too many events for May, June and July because I need all the days I can grab to finish my fourth book. My deadline is 1st August and I’m aiming to get the first draft finished by the middle of July so I’ve got two weeks to quickly revise it before I hand it over to my editor. The current word count is 77,000 words and I’m pretty sure I’ve got another 30,000 or so words to write until I reach ‘Th...

Festivals, libraries and fitting in words

April was a hugely busy month. The Missing came out, I wrote a ton of short stories to promote it (okay, four) and I spent a lot of time preparing a workshop called The Art of the Thriller for Chipping Norton Literary Festival. I went to ChipLitFest for the first time last year and had such a great time I was really excited to go back.

Despite a few technical difficulties at the beginning (thank you Windows 10 updates!) the workshop went brilliantly well. I had a full class and they were hug...

Getting lucky twice!

On 7th April The Missing, my third psychological thriller, was published. I never used to believe authors who said they got nervous before publication – especially authors who’d had Sunday Times bestsellers – what was there to worry about? Of course they’d have another one. But I’ll admit that I was really nervous before The Missing was published. There are lots of articles online about writers and ‘imposter syndrome’, the feeling that you just got lucky or somehow blagged your way into a pu...

Audio, video, radio! (and some press)

Only three days to go until The Missing is published (although some copies have already been spotted on shelves) and things are getting exciting!

I have been floored by some of the wonderful things the book bloggers have said about The Missing (you can read a selection here). The Lie did so well – unexpectedly well for a second book – and I was terrified that The Missing would suffer by comparison as it’s such a different book, but my fears seem to be unfounded. The reaction seems to be overw...

The one where I pretend to be on Jackanory…

Three weeks and three days until The Missing comes out.

Two dozen bloggers have received their proofs and a bottle of wine advertising a ‘Missing Person’ (thanks to Laura for the photos) and more bloggers are due to receive their paperbacks very soon.

At 5pm today (GMT) The Missing will be made available on NetGalley but ONLY FOR 24 HOURS. So if you’re a blogger or reviewer you need to be quick!

This afternoon I wrote 340 words of my fourth psychological thriller. 340 words might not sound...

The Missing proof giveaway!

Tomorrow (Wednesday) morning I will be running a giveaway. Three lucky readers will receive a proof of The Missing, a mini bottle of Prosecco and a bar of Hotel Chocolat (almond and caramel). To enter you need to be a member of the CL Taylor Book Club*. I’ll send out an email to all members at 11am with details on how to enter. I’ll also be sharing the details of two book proofs that I’ve read recently that I think deserve to be huge.

If you join the CL Taylor Book Club you’ll be first to fi...

Road trip novel research…

The proofs of THE MISSING have been produced and very lovely they are too. Copies have been sent out to a handful of authors and blogger copies should be arriving some time in March. I’ve already received some wonderful endorsements from some of the authors who’ve read The Missing:

“The Missing has a delicious sense of foreboding from the first page, luring us into the heart of a family with terrible secrets and making us wait, with pounding hearts for the final, agonizing twist. Loved it.”
...

One step closer to a finished book

This afternoon I sent the page proofs of THE MISSING, and my corrections, to my editor. I think it was around January last year that I was finalizing my research and preparing to start plotting this novel. A year. That’s how long it’s taken to get this novel ready for publication. Maybe a little longer. I think I came up with the idea in December 2014. Either way it feels like it’s taken a very long time to take this novel from conception through to final copy.

And now I have to do it all ov...

The Missing has left the building!

I realised the other day that I haven’t updated this blog since September and wondered why, only to realise that I spent the whole of October and a good part of November completing my edits for The Missing. There were no nasty surprises in my editor’s comments on the first draft – I agreed with pretty much everything she said – but it still took a while to implement the changes.

Working out the time line of my books post first-draft is always fiddly but a tip I read on Jill Mansell’s Facebook...