Daynote - Tue 9 Jun 2026
A cracking review for a Tuesday morning.
Well, my Tuesday has started really rather well. I woke up this morning to an alert that I'd just got a review in the Sunday Times (!) which had been posted online early. Huge thanks to John Dugdale for this stellar review:
It's really, really reassuring to see reviewers and readers who enjoyed the first book have a good time (or even better!) with the second one. A massive relief.
Yesterday I also did a podcast recording with the Murder Junction podcast, hosted by crime writing veterans Vaseem Khan and Abir Mukherjee, who have both been incredibly welcoming to me when I met them last summer at book festivals.
Vaseem has already edited the episode and put it live, so have a listen here!
It was so much fun recording this episode with them and I'm looking forward to chatting SF with Vaseem at Capital Crime in a couple of weeks!
ON DECK: I got somewhat distracted by the Times review this morning, so didn't get much done (the week before and after launch is kind of a grab bag when it comes to productivity) but I did edit one scene with a total of four words cut in aggregate. Going easy on myself, but I do have a book to write (and edits on two books incoming) so I'll need to start getting back into the swing of things shortly.
LISTENING: A couple of closely-related podcasts this morning - both the In My Good Books podcast and Nicola Meighan's A Kick Up The Arts have done previews of the Bloody Scotland 2026 programme. It's going to be such a good festival.
WATCHING: I was recording with Vaseem and Abir last night, so no telly for me, but I did catch this trailer for a new game called CROSSFIRE, which appears to be bang on the intersection of my literary and gaming interests - vaguely spooky tactical stealth shooter with weird shit going on in the desert? Sign me up!
READING: Too tired to do much reading yesterday, but I'm just about recovered from launch week/Cymera, so I hope to forge ahead today with a proof of DECEPTION by Alan Parks (Bookshop, Waterstones, Amazon), which comes out in July.
LINK: I was very chuffed that my launch event last week was included in the CWA's National Crime Reading Month - if you're looking for events featuring crime and thriller authors all over the UK, get yourself over there and have a gander.
UP NEXT: I am DONE with podcasts and events for a little while (phew) and have a clear spot in the calendar to (gasp) do some writing and reading and laundry and sleep and exercise, you know, all the things that keep me alive/make life worth living.
Capital Crime is coming up in just nine days, but I'm not going to think about that just yet (though I am greatly looking forward to it).
Onward!