About as fast as it gets...

Followers of the P.I. Eddie Flynn series who check in here occasionally may be forgiven for thinking that I've gone AWOL. Blogs at two and a half year intervals aren't exactly stretching the author's PR resources, but then again the last time I looked the author didn't have any PR resources. Not of the time variety, anyway.

Time is something many of us had in abundance this last year and it sounds like it was the perfect opportunity for authors to race ahead and work their way through their upcoming lists. Sadly, not all such authors actually did race ahead - in my case I've actually spent less time writing as other things have taken priority. My output has remained stubbornly at one book per year.

Being independent, that annual cycle covers the whole thing, from selection of the story that best fits the catalogue (yes there's a list of candidates, Flynn and stand-alone crime/thrillers) through research and writing, editing, design and layout and proof reading. As an independent, you're not shielded from any of the process (up-side: you're not shielded from any of the royalties). Working every stage of a book with endless other priorities and distractions means that one-a-year is about as fast as it gets.

And within the list of “other activities” are those peripheral to the writing, such as reader email response, writing-related communications and admin, plus website maintenance and... blogs. I always answer emails, so no saving possible there, and all the other stuff is needed except for the blog and the hour or so it takes to update. But what's an hour or so in the scheme of things? Well, when you add a few of them together you get a few hours-or-so and that's a few hours-or-so that I could be writing. You get the picture.

I do log the time I spend writing (because I plan it and keep track) and if I look at productivity during relatively uninterrupted periods I see that the pace achieved would actually support publication of two novels per year without those other distractions, and I do keep eyeing that statistic, wondering whether things could be accelerated in future. Because they need to: I've two lists of stories waiting - the Flynn series and the stand-alone crime/thrillers mentioned above - and the struggle to select becomes more difficult with each book. I don't want to defer the next two stand-alones further but dare I interrupt the Flynn series which is actually bringing an income and - implied by the income and more importantly - has a readership who don't want to wait more than twelve months between instalments? I know from my own reading experience that once you're onto book four or five of a series you're there because that particular set of stories works for you, and you've developed a kind of addiction to slipping back into its familiar world periodically as an escape from the real one.

And talking of stand-alones, the single one I've released up to now - The Watching - is selling only slowly, and whilst 80% of Goodreads ratings are very positive (four- or five-stars) the book was the first to massively displease some readers to the extent of their begrudging even a single star. The book is very different from the Flynn series and maybe that is part of the problem. One of the inspirations behind it (thinking waaaay back) was Ed McBain's Candyland which was a similar departure from his 87th Precinct series and also took a critical panning, so I guess I'm in good company. Personally, I loved Candyland as a great stylistic narrative. But when the negative reviews pop up on Amazon there's no doubt that they affect sales. I read one review (I read them all, sooner or later) that wondered if The Watching was my first attempt, and criticised the book as difficult to read due to its lack of punctuation. Well the book was far from my first attempt and as far as I'm aware there's not a single sentence un-punctuated between the covers - although the sentences are longer than I'd use in the Flynn series, which is a stylistic thing for that series.

Can a simple change of style really throw readers off to the point where they find a book “unreadable”? I guess it can.

But I'm not worrying too much: several of my favourite literary novelists are panned by readers who just don't get along with the style. I recall Faulkner and Golding, amongst others, ducking the rotten tomatoes of knowledgable readers. So I won't be feeling too constrained in my next diversion from the Flynn series (as an independent, of course, there's no marketing dept to block me). Stand-alones are waiting in the wings. The conflict between them and the Flynn series is simply one of time and that's a conundrum I haven't figured out.

Hence, coming back to my original point, the blog-light website and AWOL author: just be assured that I've been here and the word-processor has remained fired up and working and that many more Flynn books are planned.

A final word, since I'm here to announce the very next one: we've set a September date for the publication of Flynn 6, Dog Waltz, and if you're reading this blog then there's a chance you're interested. If you are, and if you do read this latest book, I hope it gives you the escape into a familiar world. If it does, and if time passes quickly and entertainingly before your return to reality, then the book is a success and the series is a success.

September 15th is the date. Keep a look out.

​
​

DOG WATCH

The new Eddie Flynn
Out September 15th