Good morning - I'm still in transit, on my way back home after a lovely day in Bristol. I also signed copies in Bristol and London, met some awesome booksellers and took care of a lot of writing admin, blurb reading and sundry tasks while I was bimbling about the English countryside. I love trains.
The above shot was taken from the dining car of the Caledonian Sleeper at Carstairs, which is the stop where the Edinburgh and Glasgow portions of the train are split apart. The whole town and surrounding fields were cloaked in morning fog. It was a very dramatic backdrop for my breakfast.
ON DECK: With transfers, lounges and coffee shops I've not had a decent portion of time to get some words in, but I'll do some on the last leg home to East Lothian shortly (I'm currently on a bench on the platform waiting for my train and using the station wifi).
Later today we're also doing a cover reveal for SOLITARY AGENTS! Check my Instagram and Bluesky to see the new cover, and I'll also be posting here. A whole bunch of amazing writers and book bloggers have volunteered to help me out, so hopefully you should see it in several places.
LISTENING: A great interview with John Scalzi over on Quick Book Reviews. Recent QBR episodes have had a food focus and that is also a focus of Scalzi's (see various online burrito crimes documented on his socials) so it's a good match.
WATCHING: I haven't watched anything because I've been in transit for 36 hours. But SLOW HORSES tonight once I'm home.
READING: I finished Tom Hindle's A KILLER IN PARADISE! Excellent fun. And a blurb sent off to the publisher. Mystery fans, you'll want this one on your TBR.
LINK: A great post from Phoebe Morgan on 'ghosting' in the publishing industry. I get kind of annoyed when people call simply not receiving a response to a query 'ghosting' because quite often that's the expected result (check their submission guidelines!) but when people don't respond to an ongoing conversation, wow, it's annoying. This post is a good exploration of how and why it sometimes happens.
UP NEXT: As above - cover reveal at 11am BST! Stay tuned for that. Then I'm heading into a busy weekend, including dinner in town tonight, some visits and seeing friends on Saturday, but definitely a full day at home on Sunday. Next week has a bunch of interviews lined up, so a wee break before then after this travel feels very necessary.
Onward!