Happy 29th February! I think it’s really cool how we get this bonus day once every four years. It reminds me of the Olympics, though I have to admit the analogy falls down from that point forwards. But I like it too, because it comes at the end of February, and for those of us in the top half of the planet, it means Spring is on the way. I couldn’t say it’s been a particularly hard winter here, but the last week has been spectacularly wet and windy, so a break from that will be nice.
But if you think there’s still time to fit in a quick read before the wall-to-wall sunshine arrives, I might have just the thing. Falling From Grace is a short novel, written in between the two ‘proper’ books I’m working on, and it’s out today! As I’ve said previously I wrote this book without a plan, by simply starting with a single line, and seeing where it took me. Here’s the line:
John didn’t kill Edward, but a lot of people thought he did.
Generally speaking I don’t write this way. Although I’ve completed over ten novels now, I have quite a few more half-finished ones where I wrote myself into a place I couldn’t see a way out of. And I much prefer to spend a few painful days realising that a story idea goes nowhere, than several months struggling to accept that a book I’ve put 40,000 words into isn’t going to work out. But once in a while, and for a short project like this, I don’t mind taking a risk.
(Regular readers may know, there’s an ongoing debate in the writing world over whether it’s best to work with or without a plan, and there’s the terminology to describe it too. I’ve never liked it though, and it’s only writing this that I’ve realised why. People who plan are known as ‘Plotters’ while those who don’t are ‘Pantsers’. I understand that this second term is meant to imply a spirit of adventure, as in they’re flying-by-the-seat-of-their pants. Admittedly does sound exciting. But to my British ear the shorter form has always conjured up a different image – of a pale and flabby, middle-aged man sitting in front of a laptop in their underpants. I don’t know about you, but for me that’s not quite as thrilling (and these days it’s uncomfortably close to reality). Now that I mention it, even the first term – plotter – sounds a bit negative to me. My brain seems to hear the word ‘plodder’, as in I’m plodding my way through the book. So I’ll talk about working from a plan or not working from a plan.)
Anyway, I think there’s something about a shorter book that works better with this technique. Because they’re shorter there has to be less complexity (there isn’t the room for it). There are fewer threads to weave together, and it’s all very much easier to keep everything in my head while writing.
I do struggle a bit with the concept of a novella* or shorter novel though. I think I feel like I’m short-changing readers if I put out a shorter story, and that’s definitely a factor in why this is only the second one I’ve ever published. (The other, my novella Killing Kind is offered to readers free as an introduction to my books, and you can get it here). Maybe it feels a bit of a waste of a good idea as well? I’m not sure. What I do know is this book is a bit of an experiment. If people don’t like it, then I’ll stick to what I know best with the full-length novels, but if it goes down well, then I may well try to do more shorter books, perhaps one in between each full-length book? Who knows? If you do decide to give this one a go, please let me know (ideally with the Amazon reviews, because then other people can see it as well, and it gives my visibility a boost.)
A quick note on those full-length books as well. I’m rather confusingly writing two at once right now – a standalone psychological thriller with the working title of Seen Before. I have a first draft of this finished, and I’ve just got notes back from my editor telling me how much I need to change (quite a lot). But I’m hoping to get it out sometime this summer. And then a third book in the Erica Sands series, with the working title The Hunt which hasn’t gone for editing yet and is therefore perfect. I’m enjoying writing both these stories at the moment – for very different reasons as they’re very different books. I think it’s the general sense of positivity that these books have generated that has prompted me to bash out Falling From Grace in a natural break between the two projects.
Anyway, Falling From Grace is out today as an Amazon ebook and in Kindle Unlimited. I hope you’ll give it a go, and do let me know what you think. Also a huge thank you to everyone who pre-ordered it, and if you’ve been kind enough to subscribe to these words, then I’ve sent a link so that you can get a free copy, just as a little further thank you.
And just for the record - and to really fix the image in your mind - I absolutely did not write this book sitting in my underpants.
Gregg
P.S. This year is of course an Olympic year as well. I really like the Olympics too. I think four years is just long enough to make me forget that white water canoeing, clay pigeon shooting and sliding down a mountain on a baking tray are actually quite boring to watch on TV. But I still love it. I also know what it’s like to wear an Olympic medal around my neck. When I was working as a sports journalist I interviewed Great Britain’s Olympic windsurfer Nick Dempsey, who won silver in Greece. He showed me the medal and he let me wear it while we had tea and biscuits.
* I looked on the internet to see what the actual definition of a novel/short novel/novella etc… is, and it seems to vary. For reference, my books tend to come in at around 100-110 thousand words (or too long, as Maria likes to say) and Falling From Grace is just short of 20,000.
John didn’t kill Edward, but a lot of people thought he did. Not the police, nor the teachers, but those of us who really knew him, who really knew what was going on...
Falling from Grace is a short novel telling the tragic story of Eddie Rodgers, a schoolboy who threw himself from the roof of the science block in his final year of school. And his enigmatic classmate, John – who never much liked Eddie – but was nowhere near him when he died. Or at least, that’s how everyone remembers it, including Paul – who walked the tightrope of being friends with them both. But how much should we trust our memories?
There’s a very good reason why Paul knows exactly what happened that day – yet a creeping doubt stops him moving on. And as he pulls at the threads of his memories, his certainly begins to fray, revealing hints of a truth too harrowing to face.
Because some secrets should stay buried in the shadows of the past.
From the Amazon number one bestselling author of Little Ghosts, The Things You Find in Rockpools, and The Wave at Hanging Rock, comes a dark and intricate tale that ensnares until the last shiver-inducing revelation.
Read now on Amazon from the link below!
https://readerlinks.com/l/3958132