Daynote - Thu 1 May

Last night I had the very great pleasure of interviewing Chris Whitaker at his Edinburgh event for the paperback launch of ALL THE COLOURS OF THE DARK. It was a fantastic experience and wonderful to meet Chris. I confided to him afterwards that it was my first time chairing a book event (though I've done plenty of similar things in different day jobs) and he made it very easy.

Plus we were on the mezzanine at the West End branch of Waterstones, with a stunning view out to Edinburgh Castle, on what I think was the most beautiful evening of the year so far.

Thank you to everyone who came along and asked such smart questions - it was a real honour.

ON DECK: Two things to think about today - the first is the news that A RELUCTANT SPY is a Kindle Monthly Deal, US and UK, on both eBook and audiobook editions! 99p/99¢ for hours of entertainment. More details in this post.

The second is that I'm back to actually editing, having finished the timeline on PROJECT SCARLET yesterday. It feels good. I'm now adding stuff as I go based on crit partner feedback, so the word count is all over the place, but I got -160 words today. I've got a little under 3k to cut and probably about 2k to add, so I'll actually need to cut 5k or so before the end of the month. But I've got a plan and now I just need to power through it.

LISTENING: I saw a post on Bluesky about a new podcast, jointly hosted by Emma Newman (best known for the PLANETFALL series) and Adrian Tchaikovsky (best known for a fearsomely large number of novels), in which they talk about books. I have never subscribed to a podcast so fast.

Spoilers - it's great. Check out Starship Alexandria.

WATCHING: Didn't watch anything yesterday evening because I was in town talking to Chris, but I did watch this Terry Pratchett interview that writer and podcaster Scott Edelman posted, from CapClave in 2011. I miss PTerry.

READING: I'm still reading through INNOCENT GUILT and I genuinely muttered 'what the fuck' last night as I finished a chapter. It's one of those books. Positive, in case that's unclear.

LINK: Speaking of Kindle Monthly Deals, THE BOOK OF DOORS by m'friend and colleague Gareth Brown is also on a UK deal! Grab it while you can.

UP NEXT: My little mini-retreat/house sit has fallen through due to illness, which is a shame, but I may do a little editing over the Bank Holiday weekend. I can feel that deadline looming gently. It's all starting to come together in a very pleasing way, so it's time to push for the finish. My May calendar is almost entirely blank (unlike June, which is exceptionally busy) so I'm looking forward to a week or three of quietly polishing this manuscript. Bliss.

Onward!