Slowing down, for good reasons

I’ve just had a five-day break in Norfolk.  For those of you not from the UK, Norfolk is one of our more traditional counties, for which we love it – you can visit seaside towns that seem much as they must have done in the 1950s, and the simple pleasures of bird-spotting, cake-eating and countryside-walking are Norfolk’s selling points.  And what inevitably happens on a Norfolk break is that you slow down and take stock – you step back from daily routines and pressures and wonder why life can’t always be this relaxing.

As some of you will know, I am retiring from my full-time paid work at the end of this year – for many and complicated reasons, but it’s the right decision at the right time and I am looking forward to spending much more time on writing and book marketing.  However, when I announced my plans to my clients, I was (very flatteringly) inundated with requests for “just one more training session before you go”, and my diary for the last three months of the year is now jam-packed with bookings.  The net result is that I am further behind with “Plank 7” than I would wish – and I was getting panicky about meeting my own deadline (mildly important) and also finding the actual writing a chore rather than a pleasure (hugely important).  And after looking at it from the distance of Norfolk, I have decided to postpone my publication date until 25 February 2022.  (My late father’s birthday, so always a significant date for me.)

I am aware that we are in the middle of our title poll – many thanks to those who have already voted.  I can’t see me changing the plot elements significantly or changing my short-list of titles, so the decision of that poll will simply carry forward – and it will be lovely to stop calling the poor thing “Plank 7” and give it a proper name instead.

And to those of you who suspect that this is all simply a ruse to spend a couple more months with Sam and Martha, well, I couldn’t possibly comment…

It’s title time again – please vote!

Wouldn’t you know it – I’m silent for weeks, and then when I do reappear, it’s to ask you for something.  Typical.  But it might please you to hear that I am finally at the stage where I can start thinking about a title for “Plank 7”, and that’s where you come in.  As regular readers will know, I am terrible with titles and so I fob off the responsibility onto you: I tell you a little about the plot and then ask you to choose your favourite from a short-list of five possible titles.

(Just to refresh your memories, in case it affects your choice – the six Sam Plank novels so far are: “Fatal Forgery”, “The Man in the Canary Waistcoat”, “Worm in the Blossom”, Portraits of Pretence”, “Faith, Hope and Trickery” and “Heir Apparent”.)

So, “Plank 7”.  It’s the final one in the Sam Plank series, taking place in late 1829 (“Heir Apparent” was set in spring of the same year).  It covers the launch of the Metropolitan Police in September 1829, with Wilson joining them, and Sam’s decision about what to do next.  The crimes they are investigating involve the passing of counterfeit notes through gambling clubs and horse sales, and concerns about organised crime infiltration of the “new police”.  We also see a final showdown between Sam and his nemesis – the man in the canary waistcoat.  The key concepts I would like to indicate are therefore: counterfeiting; gambling; change; just desserts; and the future.

Given all of that, the five possible titles I have devised are listed below, as a poll.  I’ll keep the poll open until the end of Sunday 24 October so that you can mull it over, and we’ll see which one triumphs.  (And if you can think of an even better title, please let me know – we can always do a run-off.)

Taking the Alpine heir

Now I know we’re all rather wary of polls, elections and referenda these days, but I’d like to thank the thirty-four of you who overcame your understandable scepticism about democracy to take part in the process to select the title for “Plank 6”.  And the people have spoken and issued a clear mandate: fully 50% of the votes were cast for “Heir Apparent”.  Coming second, with nine votes, was “Dividend of Death”.  I’m delighted – I think it’s an excellent choice.

Meanwhile, I’ve been working on what’s going to go behind that title: the book itself.  And (in the spirit of full honesty about the self-published writing life, which is the purpose of this blog) I will confess that I have found this writing retreat harder than the previous ones.  Thanks to a busier working life than usual and some unexpected family illness (all fine now, thank goodness), I came away with less of the book written than I had intended.  To make sure that I head home with a complete first draft, I worked out that I needed to write about 3,000 words each day – with no days off during the seventeen days of the retreat.  And it turns out that that is really tiring.  Who knew that sitting on your bottom all day could be exhausting, but it’s more the mental effort of concentrating and being inventive for hours on end.  So far I have had to take two days off – turns out that the standard weekend pattern (five days on, two days off) is there for a reason!  It’s been a handy lesson for when I – one day – become a full-time author.  Planning to write imaginatively every day is unrealistic; I’ll make sure to create a balance of writing, promotional activities and administrative tasks, and factor in some rest time too.

That said, I am pleased with progress on the days I have been writing.  Gaps in the story are filling themselves in nicely, and today Sam and Wilson are off on a trip to Kent Surrey Suffolk (I keep changing my mind).  Barring unforeseen disasters, “Heir Apparent” will be hitting the shelves in mid October as planned.

Scorching Sam

One of the decisions I have to make for each Sam book – and, surprisingly, I make this decision near the end of the process – is when in the year to set the story.  I already know the year, of course (“Plank 6” is set in 1829) but not the season.  The plot of each book usually spreads over three or four months, and of course the time of year forms part of the background.  “Fatal Forgery” was autumnal, “The Man in the Canary Waistcoat” was summery, and “Worm in the Blossom” and “Portraits of Pretence” were both set in the spring, while “Faith, Hope and Trickery” encompassed the whole second half of 1828.  I am now mulling the season for “Plank 6” – and this decision is difficult because I am sitting here at the top of a mountain in sweltering heat.  And as with all extreme weather conditions, I cannot remember what it felt like to be at the other end of the thermometer.  So if Martha ends up ripping off her stays and jumping into a tin bath of cold water, you’ll know why.

One benefit of the heat here is that I have not been tempted to go out wandering in the countryside – and so I have hit the ground running in terms of word count.  On day one (yesterday) I managed a respectable 2,829 words, while today I bashed out a very pleasing 3,515.  Of course word count is not the ultimate aim – this is only the first draft – but I use it as a handy measure of how productive I have been.  And in those two days I have brought back two characters from earlier Sam books, created a whole new character I was not expecting, and given him a dog called Sloane.  Or maybe Hans – I can’t decide.

And don’t forget: the title poll for “Plank 6” finishes at the end of July, so there’s only a few days left to cast your vote.

Changing up a gear

I know I’ve been quiet recently; my excuse is that I was on holiday cycling along the Rhine (which I can recommend for both scenery and ice-cream – the Germans are mad for both).  But I am now home again and work on “Plank 6” is at the forefront of my mind.  There are two key deadlines: on 22 July I am off to Switzerland for my writing retreat (seventeen days on my own, just for writing), and then on 18 October I am hoping to publish the book.  For the writing retreat to be of most value, I need to make sure that I have all but finished the first draft by the time I go – which is only 28 days away.  I’m nowhere near that at the moment, so it’s full steam ahead, carving out writing time whenever and wherever I can.  And the writing retreat should – must – result in a draft that I can send out to my lovely beta readers, and then I need to allow time to incorporate their suggested changes, which could be extensive.  I’m getting the vapours just thinking about it.

And of course the inside of the book is only part of it: before publication I need to decide on a title and a cover and a cover blurb, and organise a launch event.  So no pressure, then.  Over the weekend I put together a list of about fifteen possible titles – some are rather dull, others could work.  I’ll narrow that down to five and then put it to the public vote, as usual, in July.  I’ve started looking for possible cover images and documents, but thankfully can leave colour choice to the cover designer – I’ll be interested to see what they add to our current suite of blue, gold, red, green and purple.

One small update: you remember the book-signing that I did at WHSmith in April?  I’ve been trying to extract from them the vast sum I made from the day (read all about it here) and it’s taken nearly as long as writing “Plank 6”.  They’ve apparently designed a new payments system and I’ve had to submit my details to be approved as a new supplier, along with my invoice.  I’ll let you know when the money arrives and I can treat myself to an extra box of Jaffa Cakes.

And the winner is…

As you have probably guessed from the countdown clock on the left, “Plank 5” is now officially to be known as “Faith, Hope and Trickery”.  There were thirty-three votes cast in total in the title poll, and “FHT” garnered fifteen of those.  “Faith Undone” came second, with eight votes, then “Dearly Departed” with six, and “The Confidence Trick” and “Riches Beyond Belief” trailing with only two votes each.  I did not vote, although my husband did and won’t tell me which one he selected.

I am delighted with the choice – of course, I make sure that I like all five options so that I am always happy with your selection!  But I am very grateful to everyone who took part, as I am hopeless at making decisions and am pleased to be able to palm one off on other people.

I am particularly grateful to be able to focus on something other than editing, as I am waiting to hear from my plot reader – tense times in the Grossey household!  This weekend’s task is to finalise the back cover blurb.

Name that book!

Just a quick reminder that today is your last chance to have a say on the title of “Plank 5”.  I will be closing the poll at the end of the day, and then sending the chosen title to the marvellous people who design the cover for the book.  They already have my ideas for the figure and the document that will go on the front, and I’m homing in on the back cover blurb, so the title is the last remaining element.

I’ve had a look at the title poll results so far, and with twenty-nine votes cast there is a clear front-runner, but – as they say in the world’s leading opera houses – it ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings.  And she’ll be tuning up in about fourteen hours’ time.

Let the nail-biting begin…

Well, that’s it: the completed draft of “Plank 5” has just been sent to my lovely beta reader Roy.  So there’s nothing more I can do until I hear from him, and that’s both scary and a great relief.

By the way, I’m now feeling the terrible lack of a title, so please do head on over to my earlier post and cast your vote.

I am currently reading Susan Hill’s book “Jacob’s Room is Full of Books” – it’s described as a memoir of a year of reading – and in it she says that she is constantly being asked to give tips to aspiring writers.  In particular, they ask her how many drafts she does of her novels.  And here’s what she says: “I make some notes… and they are very random and disconnected….  I think a lot….  And then I start.  I carry on.  I finish.  One draft and one draft only, at least for fiction….  Of course I tidy up and tighten up, I correct grammar and punctuation.  But in all essentials, the first draft is the last draft is the published book.”  Of course Susan Hill is a much-respected professional author, not an amateur like me, but it’s interesting to hear that not all authors go through several drafts, as almost all writing courses demand.  It gives great hope to the lazier of us…

[Side note: as I typed the word “constantly” just then, my fingers automatically typed “constable”.  I’ve been spending, as usual, too much time with Sam.]

Sorting out Sam’s diary

In past years I have been lucky enough to enjoy a writing retreat over the summer, where I immerse myself in writing as I reach the final stages of a book.  This year we had a long holiday in Canada instead – oh, what a hardship – and so I have engineered a mini-retreat for myself this week.  My husband is off cycling and visiting family for three days, and I have cleared my desk of “normal” work, and so it’s just me and Sam (and Martha, and Wilson, and Conant, and Wontner, and Freame – heavens, it’s crowded in here).

Yesterday – the first of the three days – I tackled a job that has been much on my mind: timetabling.  When I write, I do not anchor the chapters to particular dates.  But, as anyone who has read a Sam Plank book will know, each chapter in the final version has a specific date attached to it.  This is because I envisage the stories as a sort of constable’s notebook, and in such notebooks dates are very important.  And so, at some point in the process, I have to allocate a date to each chapter.  But of course by this stage there are all sorts of cross-references in the text, such as “only two days later”, or “three weeks earlier”, or “after she had attended four Sunday meetings” – and they all have to be made to work together.  It’s a rather frustrating exercise, involving big blank calendars, a soft pencil and a very big rubber (for my American readers, that’s an eraser…).

Actually, I say “big blank calendars” but that’s not true: on the calendar I first mark any significant dates – such as Sam’s birthday, and important festivals like Easter – and any particularly relevant events.  “Plank 5” is set in 1828, and in that year London Zoo was opened on 27^th April (which is not at all relevant to my story) and there was an unseasonably harsh frost on 12^th November (which is).  So it’s like assembling a rather formless jigsaw puzzle without a picture on the box to guide you, and I am very relieved to have done it.

(You will notice that I am still referring to “Plank 5”: don’t forget that my title poll is now open, and you can cast your vote here for the title that you like best.)

Time to name “Plank 5”

It’s a different time of year to usual (winter rather than summer), but don’t think for one moment that this excuses you from your duty: choosing the title of the latest Sam Plank novel, heretofore known as “Plank 5”.  Just to remind you, the four predecessors in the series are called “Fatal Forgery”, “The Man in the Canary Waistcoat”, “Worm in the Blossom” and “Portraits of Pretence”.  Of course, no-one can be expected to choose a title without knowing a little about the book, so here we go:

“Plank 5” is set in the autumn/winter of 1828.  Constable Sam Plank becomes curious about religious meetings led by a charismatic preacher at which ‘heralds’ claim that they can communicate with the deceased and pass on messages from them to their mourning relatives.  [This practice gained enormous currency in the Victorian period, with spiritualism and mediums gathering huge followings, but the idea has been there since the beginning of time.]  Some of the messages suggest that the subjects should donate quite a bit of money to the preacher’s cause – and when a man’s wife refuses to allow him to do this, the herald suggests a rather extreme solution, and this is how Sam becomes involved.  Others who attend the meetings because they have lost beloved children are told that, for a fee, replacement babies could be found.  And yet everything suggests that the preacher himself is an honest and godly man, who truly believes that you can communicate from beyond the grave.  Sam’s baffled scepticism is matched only by Martha’s heartbreaking desire to believe and Wilson’s stolid determination to make sense of it all.

As ever, I have thought of five possible titles and will leave the final choice to you.  The poll will run from today for three weeks – i.e. until Friday 9 February 2018 – and then I have to give the title to the cover magicians.  So here we go, the five contenders…