Daynote - Mon 15 Jun 2026

Back down to the beach today, and the first of three days of concentrated work. It was grey and overcast this morning, a little cool, but a nice walk. Loads of bees on the blueweed at the beach, one of which is visible in the picture above.

Over the weekend, on the last day of Indie Bookshop Week, we popped into one of my favourites in East Lothian, Night Owl Books in East Linton. The owner Rebecca was wonderfully welcoming and I got to sign a couple of copies (and a bunch of bookplates, if you live in the area and would like one for your copy).

ON DECK: Still working on the consolidation edit - I got a bit distracted on Friday so didn't get as much as I'd have liked, but I worked on two chapters today and got a solid -101 words cut out. Nice. I suspect I won't get to drafting on this project like I'd hoped this week, but I'll settle for finishing this consolidation edit.

LISTENING: I very much enjoyed this episode of Writer's Routine with Scottish historic novelist and playwright Sara Sheridan. Brilliant interview that I highly recommend.

WATCHING: We finished off BIG MISTAKES over the weekend. Quite the escalation at the end. I suspect a second series at least will come along.

READING: Speeding through DECEPTION by Alan Parks (Bookshop, Waterstones, Amazon) and enjoying the 1940s noir feel of it. The central mystery is compelling stuff too.

LINK: An intriguing interview over at The Honest Editor about the new Simon & Schuster imprint 'Skylight', which is 'inspired by the way TV production companies work'. I'll be very curious to see what comes out of this.

UP NEXT: Monday to Wednesday I'll be head down on this edit, plus packing and prepping to go to London. Thursday I'm off to London in time for the Fingerprint Awards in the evening, then my panel is first thing on Friday morning (0930, for the early birds) and I'll be floating about all weekend. Really looking forward to it, but first I've got a lot of admin to do.

Onward!