JAGGED SHORES Behind the Scenes Part 1

 Dear reader

With the series now at an end, I thought it would be funto share a few behind the scenes moments with you on the creation of Jaggedshores.

First up – it was never intended to be a series. Thefirst book, North Point, started life as a standalone. I wanted to write astory set on the north east coast of England which would feature a life boatvolunteer as one of the heroes. I grew up in Northumberland and am familiarwith the coastline but there wasn’t one specific town that I thought would bebest suited as a location, so I created Nyemouth, which was an amalgam ofseveral different places.

   

I plan all of my novels in advance using a studentproject book. I usually start with a bit of a mood board, collecting images ofthe kinds of people and locations I want to feature.

 

From there it’s a case of creating a cast list, buildingthe characters and then the story outline. Only when that is all in place, do Istart writing.

It was when I turned the book in to the publisher thatthey came back and asked if I could develop it into an ongoing series. Myinitial reaction was – not really. Dominic and Arnie had their happy ending,and I didn’t want to mess with that. But I quickly realised that Nyemouthitself could be the basis for a series of loosely connected standalonethrillers. There were supporting characters like Jacob who could return againand again. Once I hit on that idea, everything fell into place.

 

 

GET IT HERE

I hope you’ve enjoyed this behind the scenes look at mycreative process. Look out for more details in the coming weeks.

Happy reading

Thom X