Daynote - Thu 19 Feb 2026

A very nice walk this morning, through the woods and down to the water. Grey and cool, but not raining, which is always a plus. And Poppy The Labrador had a very good stick. As I said to Poppy's owners this morning, it's always a highlight of the day, throwing the stick/ball for Poppy, especially since her brother Flash stopped trying to steal them.

It's the penultimate day of the Waterstones 25% off pre-order sale and you can still get SOLITARY AGENTS (as well as dozens of other amazing books, in hardback and paperback) for a quarter off. Just enter FEB26 at checkout on the web or in the Waterstones app.

ON DECK: 1,002 words this morning, a reasonable and solid count. I started a little late, but got a decent amount done and a scene completed. I have now entered the Lingering Doubts zone, where I'm looking at my remaining word count and all the plot threads I've set moving and going 'oh shit' internally. I know from experience it'll be (mostly) fine if I keep soldiering on, but the Lingering Doubts remain. Ah well, on we go.

TOOLS AND PROCESS: Yesterday I received a paperback copy of a phenomenal book that was so useful to me when I was first learning how to do this job that I decided I wanted to own a physical copy. That book is SELF EDITING FOR FICTION WRITERS by Renni Browne and Dave King.

This book is out of print now, but you can find it secondhand in various places, including Amazon. It's a comprehensive, nuts-and-bolts, step-by-step guide to the otherwise nebulous task of 'editing' and I found it absolutely invaluable. Highly, highly recommended.

LISTENING: I loved this episode of the SpyHards movie podcast interviewing David Farr, writer of THE NIGHT MANAGER show and also HANNA (film and TV series). A really fascinating look at making good spy telly.

WATCHING: More of DOWN CEMETERY ROAD last night. Now that it's got rolling I'm really enjoying it. Might pick up the books at some point, as I've not gone back to Mick Herron's earlier work.

READING: I finished RAT RACE by Callum McSorley (Bookshop, Waterstones, Amazon) last night and had an absolute ball with it. Brilliant book and very much worth your time, even if you haven't read the first two books in the series. This morning I sent this quote to Pushkin Press:

RAT RACE  is a full-tilt sprint through the darkest edges of the Glaswegian criminal underground. A viscerally hilarious and sometimes brutal crime thriller, it made me laugh, wince and gasp in equal measure. The inimitable DCI Alison 'Ally' McCoist continues her dangerous dance with the scariest people in the city, intertwining the everyday life of Glasgow with the terrifying violence bubbling just beneath the surface. A triumph of crime fiction and proof that Callum McSorley deserves his status as a rising star of the Scottish scene. 

LINK: If you're an aspiring crime writer, the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival has posted a very exciting opportunity to develop your craft. Check it out and apply from their Bluesky post.

UP NEXT: Off to Napier tomorrow to yammer about community building (and how to survive multi-day events as a writer), then off for a podcast recording. And then, phew, the weekend.

Onward!