Daynote - Wed 22 Jul
A busy morning.
No walk this morning, because we got back very late from seeing THE ODYSSEY (loved it, more below). But a good writing morning nonetheless.
It was a very busy day yesterday, as several things went live all at once.
First up, SOLITARY AGENTS is part of the Waterstones Pre-Order Summer Sale! You can grab a copy of the paperback for 25% off (with snazzy new cover) until this Friday.
Next up, Tim Shipman's annual list of the best spy novels has gone live over at Spybrary. It's a living list that he updates over the second half of the year, but currently he's got SOLITARY AGENTS listed as his number 3! A very, very kind review.
Shane Whaley
I met Tim at Capital Crime back in June and it was a delight to talk to him about the genre and my plans for the future. Worry not, Tim, plenty of spy books to come from me!
And lastly, I had a piece published on the Express website yesterday - my eight top spy authors!
David Goodman – Bestselling Author
I tried to have a good mix of the stalwarts of the genre I've been reading for years and some newer writers too. Inevitably, some people's favourites aren't included, but if you want an exhaustive list, I recommend Tim Shipman's Top 125.
ON DECK: A solid 790 words this morning. I'm still progressing on DRIFT and it's still going well. Closing in on 60k, which I think is going to be closer to the 'true' halfway point of the book. And I'm writing my first big set piece action scene, which is a lot of fun.
LISTENING: Loved this episode of the What Went Wrong podcast on THE DARK KNIGHT - man, it's amazing that any films get made, isn't it?
WATCHING: We had a great time watching THE ODYSSEY last night - visually spectacular (and yet kind of stark and austere too?) some great performances and (with the exception of the occasional modernised 'dad' and 'mom' dialogue that I really didn't love - these people are supposed to be literal royalty come on) a great script. Some of the scenes were incredibly visceral and effective, such as Cersei's hut and the visit to Hades. Highly recommended.
READING: Just about finished with THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER by Stephen Graham Jones (Bookshop, Waterstones, Amazon). Still no idea how he's going to end it, but I can tell it's building up to something. Loving it.
LINK: A second podcast link today, which is a great interview on Always Take Notes with Vicki Willden-Lebrecht about her career in writing and publishing. I've met a bunch of publishing people over the past few years and some of them have pretty interesting and varied careers behind them, including Vicki.
UP NEXT: The week and the words proceed apace, and I continue to make good progress. It's also Harrogate weekend coming up, and I was due to be heading down there tomorrow and coming back Sunday, but I'm gutted that I can no longer make it. I'll be looking on via occasional social media dips (I'm trying to spend less time on The Apps generally) with severe FOMO.
It was always ambitious to try and do all three of the big three (Capital Crime, Harrogate and Bloody Scotland) two years running and my ambition has outstripped my ability, this year at least. But I'm aiming to be there next year, and I'll definitely be at Bloody Scotland in September.
In the meantime, head down and working. Onward!