An absolute stunner of a morning today, 4°C and bright sunshine made it wooly hat and warm jacket weather. I had a very nice walk through the sunlit woods. I like this time of year because it's bright and cold but I'm not starting my morning walk in darkness quite yet.
ON DECK: I also had an excellent start to the day work-wise, getting 48 pages proofed of A TRAITOR'S CALL. So far it's pretty light on the typo/clanger front too, which is reassuring. And I'm having to stop myself getting caught up in the story and reading faster, which is also a good sign that I've done my job and written something moderately compelling.
Today is also the day that Project SUNSHINE goes out on pitch and I'm totally fine about it, thanks for asking (I am very excited, but also nervous, and trying not to think about it). This is a new kind of project for me so I have no real idea what to expect. And it is extremely likely that if anything does happen with it, I won't hear about it for days at best, weeks more likely or even months. So there's no logical reason to be nervous today. And yet.
If you're someone who has received Project SUNSHINE today and taken a look at my website, hello! There's a lot of posts for you to read if you'd like to know more about me.
It is also paperback release week for SOLITARY AGENTS!
Absolutely in love with that cover. And it has a beautiful bright red glossy spine. Trust me, you're going to want a copy of this one. Pre-order it here: Bookshop.org, Waterstones, Amazon. It comes out on Thursday.
TOOLS AND PROCESS: I started a new Scrivener file this morning, for Project BALTIC - not because I'm actively working on it yet, but because something I read in A TRAITOR'S CALL while proofing it made me realise I should probably be keeping notes on relevant character backstory. So I copied and pasted the pitch for BALTIC over from the Word document I sent to my editor, then wrote my one line of character back story that may blossom into something much bigger. BALTIC is, of course, the fourth Jamie Tulloch/Legends book that we sold in a two book deal, but so far it's just a five paragraph pitch and one line of notes. Feels good to start the file, though. Every novel I've ever written started out as an empty Scrivener project at one point or another.
LISTENING: Another excellent in-depth episode from the Le Carré Cast on the character of Ricki Tarr. I've really enjoyed this little mini-series, and I hope they do Mendel the Special Branch man at some point. Or even Fawn, though I suspect he's too much of a cipher of a character.
WATCHING: We watched the first episode of Simon Reeves' new travel programme, WILDERNESS last night - as usual it was beautiful to watch and absolutely fascinating. I do love a bit of travelogue.
READING: More of THE TRIALS OF EMPIRE by Richard Swan (Bookshop, Waterstones, Amazon) over the weekend and it has kicked off admirably.
KIT: After reading Jeremy Maluf's Onebag post this year, I picked up the power bank he recommended, because the smaller ones I have tend to die pretty quick over the course of a 1-2 day trip away (which I do a lot). It showed up over the weekend and it's a very solid bit of gear. Built-in USB-C, readout with a percentage and solid metal construction. A bit heavy, but it'll charge a phone four times and a laptop as well at least once. I'll be taking it with me to London for the London St Andrews Book Festival in a couple of weeks, so we'll see how it performs.
LINK: My friend Jordan Acosta launched his full-cast audio drama THE PALLID MASK last week and it has gone down an absolute storm, shooting up the podcast charts. Free to listen too - get it on your podcast roster.
UP NEXT: I've made some excellent progress over the weekend, so I'm about ten pages off being halfway through the proofread for A TRAITOR'S CALL. Which is good, because the deadline is in three days. But at a rate of 72 pages per day, I'll get there. Which is doable, though with a touch of evening and lunchtime working. I also, somewhere in there, need to write my acknowledgements, which always involves a bit of brain-racking to make sure you don't forget anybody.
Exciting times, with a lot to do, which is how I like things to be.
Onward!