Where I'm at is, obviously, a grammatical nightmare, but you know what I mean. I thought I'd do a little post to tell you all what I'm up to, writing wise.
My current release is--and I may not have mentioned this for about twenty seconds--The UnTied Kingdom
, my cheerfully insane story of a third-world England, a washed-up popstar and the sexiest man to ever say, "I don't see no bugger else doing it."Next up--ooh I'm going to keep you in suspense over this one, but let's say if you're one of the lovely people who said nice things about I, Spy?
recently then you might be happy to hear my news next week.I've recently re-started my WIP, a book which has had more false starts than the Grand National. It's about a pirate warlord and a blind slave and a dog called Brutus.
Then there are the other projects, the ones which are still percolating. The one with the one-legged private investigator, the girl who sees dead people and a ghost who says "What ho!" an awful lot; the one with the rockstar called Spike, a mad Labrador and lots of gorgeous cars; the one that's a vague, ill-conceived sequel to The UnTied Kingdom
and has no discernible plot but simply serves as a way for me to daydream about Harker; the one with the disfigured brothel-keeper and amnesiac assassin; the one that's a prequel to Mad, Bad & Dangerous
and Almost Human
and tells Striker and Chalia's story.And a few others too. So, what've you been up to?
I just reread UnTied Kingdom and enjoyed it so much I thought I'd come and tell you. It made even more sense having looked at the acknowledgements and seen two of my favourite characters in there. It's also made me think I need to go and find out who the other one is. Anyway, the sound of a sequel so that we can all daydream about Harker sounds like fun. I'll look forward to it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kirsten! So, who was the one you didn't know?
ReplyDeleteMal Reynolds. I've never come across Joss Whedon. Vimes and Sharpe, on the other hand, are old friends! The fact that I find it difficult to separate Sharpe from Sean Bean's northern portrayal makes me more fond of Harker! Btw I was wondering whether you were familiar with Foyle's War? Only, for some reason, Charlie really reminds me of Sam from that despite not actually being that similar.
ReplyDeleteKirsten, that's so strange: Charlie was originally called Sam, and I was asked to change her name because she seemed to similar to Sam from Foyle's War! I personally don't see the similarity beyond them being girls in uniform--Foyle's Sam is much more feminine and rather jolly hockeysticks, whereas mine is a career soldier. But that's the thing about books: everyone has their own perspective!
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, if you get hold of some Firefly DVDs, the character of Zoe was a huge inspiration for Charlie, especially her relationship with Captain Mal.
Ah that's where he's from. I've had a friend bugging me to watch Firefly for ages, but I never get round to it.
ReplyDeleteI totally see that their characters aren't particularly similar; I think it's more the loyal sidekick vibe that they both give off. It's true though, that everyone brings their own experiences and perspectives to characters. I guess I kind of liked Sam so immediately connected her with a character that has superficial similarities. Does that ever bug you about people's reactions to your characters? Are you sat there silently screaming 'But he/she's not like that at all!'?