Hey hey hey - another month has somehow passed! Welcome back to The Decrypt, my monthly newsletter on all things writing, publishing, craft and media.
It was another jam-packed month, although that jam-packedness almost entirely manifested as me, sitting in front of my monitor, typing. That's right, it was a heavy editing month. But, as of Thursday, I finished another book.
Grab a drink and settle in, this one's going to get crafty.
As noted, this was not a busy month event-wise. My only book event since the last newsletter was actually technically in April, when I was in conversation with Chris Whitaker about his phenomenal book ALL THE COLOURS OF THE DARK.
On an absolutely gorgeous spring evening, we had a wide-ranging conversation in front of a wonderful audience at Waterstones West End in Edinburgh, with the Castle as a backdrop. This was actually my first time ever chairing a book event like this, which I only disclosed afterwards. Thankfully Chris was an ideal first-time interviewee, telling some incredible stories and going into his writing process in fascinating detail. I had an amazing time and it was wonderful to meet him and his partner. Thanks to the wonderful Matthew Land at Waterstones for asking me to do this event.
I also had another (pre-recorded) event this past Wednesday, but it's under wraps for now. I am very excited to talk about it though. Keep your eyes peeled!
If it was a quiet month IRL, it was a very, very busy one on the editing side. PROJECT SCARLET was due yesterday, which meant all hands to the pumps for this month to both get the book to the right length and also make sure it's as good as I can make it on my own.
I started the month about 7k over my target for the book, with a load more cutting to do. The first week or so of May got me down to 104k with some careful cutting, but it was pretty heavy going. Then an inspired conversation with my critique partners (who are collectively some of the best writers and most amazing people I've ever had the privilege to know) gave me the key to removing a whole bunch of linked scenes that were pretty redundant in the narrative. This catapulted the draft down to 98k in length, giving me some hefty headroom.
Since that big cut, I've been 'flux' editing, which is what I call the kind of careful line edit where you might be writing 500 new words, then cutting 450, so your aggregate word counts end up super small. I've been trying pretty hard to keep the word count around the 98-99k level, because I have a series of short finale scenes I didn't write in the first draft that I really wanted to include if I had the elbow room to do so. When I finished the first draft at 125k, I stuck all those scene placeholders into my 'Cuts' folder and wrote off the idea of including them. I still might, but I'm going to see what my editor thinks first.
The big question is what comes next. I have a half dozen things I could write, but haven't settled on a project yet. June is going to be a mix of very busy and very chill, because I'm doing several book events in the middle of the month, then going on holiday for two weeks. So I think I'll use the first two weeks of June to write outlines and pitches for my potential next projects, then leave the actual decisions until I'm back in July.
However, I am on course to write two full novel drafts this year, which is very encouraging after last year's startling productivity collapse. I'm not sure I'll want (or be able) to write two drafts every year, but it's a confidence boost to know that I'm capable of it.
In a mere five days, the paperback edition of A Reluctant Spy comes out in the UK. And today, if you're reading this on May 31st, is also the last day of my Kindle/Audible Monthly Deal.
I'm really excited about the paperback - it has a great new cover and some fantastic cover blurbs. And I've always been a paperback reader, so to see my own work in this format is a bit of a dream come true. Don't get me wrong, I love a good hardback, but there's something about that B-format paperback...
Events-wise, June is going to be a fun month. I'm heading to a programme launch event I can't quite talk about yet in the middle of the month, then going directly to Capital Crime in London on Thursday the 12th of June. I'm going to be there Thursday night, Friday and Saturday morning, and I'm on a panel on Friday afternoon with Brian McGilloway, S.M. Govett and Remi Kone.
This will be my first ever panel, and it's a debut panel to boot, so I'm really looking forward to chatting with Remi and Sarah about their own debut experiences in the genre. If you're going along to Capital Crime, please do say hello if you see me. I'm very happy to sign books and chat, and there will be a group signing after the panel.
Straight after Capital Crime I'll be heading away on a break, which will hopefully be mostly offline and filled with books, sleep and wandering around eating cinnamon rolls. Can't wait. But I'll be back in July for the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, as well as an early July event with Night Owl Books, talking to Iain MacGregor about his new book THE HIROSHIMA MEN.
Reading
This month it's been all about the panel and event reads.
- Innocent Guilt by Remi Kone - I'm read this one as part of my panel prep for Capital Crime and it's a very twisty crime novel indeed. I thought I had it figured out about halfway through, but reader, I did not. Really looking forward to chatting to Remi about it at our panel. An intriguing setup leading to an absolutely firecracker conclusion.
- Limbo by Dan Fox - A really interesting novella-length piece of non-fiction writing about the 'state of limbo', particularly as it relates to writing and writer's block. It's intertwined with a semi-biography of Fox's sailor brother Karl, the dynamics of his family and career and a fascinating sequence where Fox takes a cargo ship from the UK to China. I read this in a day or so and it keeps coming back to me in moments since. Plus I love Fitzcarraldo Editions - they're beautifully produced books.
- Believe by S.M. Govett - Two crime novels in one month is a bit of a departure for me and I was a little worried (because I haven't read much crime) that I'd struggle. But I needn't have worried - Believe is just as twisty as Innocent Guilt, but delivers its brutal story of betrayal and shattered trust in quite a different way. Two very strong and distinct POVs kept me turning the pages at a fearsome rate.
- The Hiroshima Men by Iain MacGregor - I've only just started this, but it's immediately gripping. Like anyone born after 1945, I've only ever lived in a world where nuclear weapons exist, but it's fascinating and grim to get a glimpse into the race towards this horrifying, world-changing watershed in human history.
Watching
We've been finishing off various series in April:
- We finished ANDOR, then immediately followed it up with ROGUE ONE, which is a very interesting pairing. The movie has a very different feel in some key scenes when you think about the depths behind some of the dialogue. And I felt it was an incredibly effective and affecting ending, given you knew at the end exactly where Cassian Andor was heading. There were a couple of episodes that I felt went round in circles a little, but overall it's a perfect little two-season jewel of a series. More like this please.
- We also finished off THE STUDIO, which had a brutally hilarious season-ending pair of episodes set in Vegas where everyone involved was clearly having the time of their lives depicting a chaotic, sweaty-palmed, drug-fuelled race towards a critical convention presentation. Super glad this has got a second season.
- We continued watching THE HANDMAID'S TALE this month. I believe this is the last season, and I'm very curious how it's all going to end (and studiously avoiding spoilers, since it's already aired in the US). The nods towards the normalisation of authoritarianism in the latest episodes don't bode well, but the undercover activities of Mayday are also building up to something, I reckon.
- We're also very much enjoying RACE AROUND THE WORLD, which I pitch to people as 'like Bake Off, but for travelling instead of cakes' and I stand by that assessment. Plus the slow discovery of the fascinating backstories of the contestants is almost as compelling as the beautiful and complex places they're travelling through. Strongly recommended.
- Also watching THE LAST OF US and greatly enjoying it. Lots of interesting departures from the games as well as some scenes that are eerily similar. It's a fascinating adaptation.
Playing
Another month of very undemanding stuff. But still fun.
- Still on WARZONE on the regular, and I've picked up the ropes now, so I'm not dying constantly or getting carried by my team. It's a great game to just hang out with mates, since there can be lots of little opportunities to chat while screaming across the landscape in a bullet-riddled Humvee.
- I started a replay of THE LAST OF US 2 since I have the PS5 remastered version now and it's as good as I remember. Playing it alongside watching the TV show is a really interesting cross-media experiment.
- Since I apparently can't get enough of the post-apocalypse, I'm also replaying DAYS GONE, which also has a new PS5 remaster. It looks gorgeous and they've ironed out a lot of the rougher edges of the original game. Plus nothing beats roaring around on a motorbike with a crossbow. The voice acting is still a bit OTT at times though.
Once again, the internet is full of more stuff to read than seems fair or proportionate. Here's a few I enjoyed.
- I subscribed to Phoebe Morgan's newsletter in May and I've pretty much posted every single one of her posts - here's a great one about re-contracting.
- I thought this profile of prolific 'script doctor' Scott Frank in the New Yorker was absolutely fascinating, for what it revealed about the risks and rewards of different creative roles in Hollywood.
- Caro Clarke at Portobello Literary wrote a great overview of money in publishing. It's a two parter - Part 1, Part 2.
- DV Bishop on what it's actually like to be a working midlister.
- Jordan Acosta has written two excellent posts on free image resources for bloggers, writers and newsletterists - Part 1, Part 2.
- Couldn't agree more with Emma Newman on the creeping AI enshittification of everything.
- A great interview with three acquiring crime and thriller editors on what they're looking for right now.
- Another excellent Phoebe Morgan post, this time on how to build back from a disappointing publication.
We had a truly glorious run of weather here in Scotland over May, although the rain, when it eventually came back, was very welcome. I spent a lot of the month editing, but I also managed to get out for walks a fair bit and saw the woods thicken with greenery and dappled light.
In the long autumn and winter months, it can sometimes be hard to mark the passing of the months except by the changing length of the day, but in the spring the same path can look profoundly different from one week to the next as plants burst out of the ground, leaves unfurl and the sun rises higher and higher in the sky.
I'm revving up for an exceptionally busy summer this year, though with one serious project already behind me (which is a lot better than last year). But a big part of dealing with everything that's going on will be to take rest where I can find it, whenever I can. Sometimes when you're frazzled and exhausted, the temptation is very strong to stay up too late, eat too much or not enough, stay in instead of getting outside and generally let yourself off easy. But I've learned through painful experience that letting everything go often makes it harder to sustain what you need to do, not easier. So I'll be doing my best to cleave to the routines and practices that keep me sane, rested and happy.
I hope you are able to take a breath as spring gives way to summer, or even just have the odd lie in. And I hope whatever you're reading, writing or making is giving you joy. And if things are tough at the moment, I hope you have a break coming soon.
In the meantime, as ever, keep reading, keep writing and keep moving.
If you have a question, suggestion or something else you'd like me to write about, please get in touch over on Bluesky or Instagram, or send me a message on my contact form.