New Arcs, Draft Number 2 and Devil May Care

2 new arcs this week. Black and White and Dead all Over by John Darnton - by the title and a quick peruse inside it looks like murder in the newspaper business. Also Shadow of Power by Steve Martini - legal thriller? I know he writes them.

Draft number 2 is shaping up nicely.

Interesting quote I came across the other day from Alexander Graham Bell, 'Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open.'

The new Bond book - Devil May Care, came out this week with Sebastian Faulks now helming the franchise. It was a quick read, good and rather than bringing Bond into the present day he keeps him in the swinging sixties. The plot is pure Fleming, cold war, missing/experimental aircraft, evil genius, clammy henchman, glamourous locations, death of a few minor characters, only one of whom I cared about and good old British technology saving the day. Faulks has obviously done his research well and the story fitted with nods to Flemings books like on OMHSS and The Man with the Golden Gun.

Scary but exciting

First things first, loving The Likeness. It's a brilliant premise and as far as I know it's never been used before. Can't wait for the book to come out in July and I'll review it fully then.

On the scary but exciting front - I have a finished draft. I'm going to add a couple of elements and expand a couple of scenes but yikes. Talk about diving off the high board!!!! 43505 words not sure how many pages that translates to. When I did nano in November 50,000 words got me two and a bit stories.....

One rewrite down. Laurie King & Tana French

I got my 20 pages down in time for our meeting Saturday, Mexican food and a very productive meet. Good job we can all take criticism as well as we dish it out and I hope I saved some time by critiquing it the way they do, cliche, placeholder, adverb, why would the character do that, where did he come from did he just beam in? stuff like that and most important show don't tell. Of course that threw up a whole bunch of other problems but I fixed those - I think - guess we'll see in June.

Along with the re=writes I've been hitting the books again. Laurie King, excellent and so good I bought the second in the series sight unseen. Tana French - all I can say is wow! She's just won the Edgar prize for best first crime novel and now 'In the Woods' is out in paperback I got the chance to read and review it.

In the early 80's three children vanish in Knocknaree, Ireland. Only one of them, Adam Robert Ryan is found. His shoes are full of someone elses blood and he can't remember what happened to him or his young friends. Twenty years later police detective Rob Ryan and partner Cassie Maddox are called to a murder scene in Knocknaree - a little girl. Rob thinks this murder might hold the key to what happened to him and his young friends but can he hold himself together long enough to finish the case or will it finish him. Great first novel and the partnership between Rob and Cassie is so well portrayed that the reader can see what's coming before they do. Un-putdownable.

Now I just need the arc for her new one "The Likeness"