Our Survey Said

It’s a stunning hot sunny day here in Cantabria and I’ve had a haircut, both of which – though not connected – are a bit of a shock and quite unusual. Also unconnected is that I sent out a survey last week, and thought I could send a little summary of results to say thank you to those kind people who filled it out, and gently fill with shame those who put it aside until later but then forgot. Tsk - it’s OK, we’ve all been there. We shan’t mention the people who read half the email then snorted with disdain at the mere thought of filling it in…

The porpoise (I spelt that wrong on purpose) of the questionnaire was because Maria and I are heading off to an author conference tomorrow, and before attending we’ve been asked to think about how we’re planning to spend the next 12 months (to take advantage of new trends in the book-buying world, recapture the market share lost to Freida McFadden yadda yadda) – and I didn’t really know what to say. I do have a sort-of plan, which is the Little Ghosts/Lake House Children-esque book I’m currently writing, tentatively called The Angel Project – and there are already 2 books finished in the editing pipeline with my publisher Storm*. But as to the question of should I write another series after that, add to the existing series I’ve already got, give up and become a professional basketball coach… I thought asking you very fine people might help.

So did it?

In a sense. I was a little surprised to learn that there are significantly more of you in the UK than the US – I thought it was the other way around, which opens the door to more Eastenders references. I was quite flattered to read that most of you have read more than ten of my books (which is more than I’ve read). And it’s nice to hear that so many of you enjoy my so-called sense of humour (though I’m aware this is a somewhat self-selecting group). There were a few comments from Australian readers reminding me that they exist too - but only a few so I can safely ignore. (You can’t complain, you got a mention…)

In terms of the books, your favourite is The Things you find in Rockpools, but it’s surprisingly closely followed by Little Ghosts. In third place (big surprise) The Glass Tower, which I’ve liked, but Maria has spent four years trying to hide behind the radiator because she doesn’t like it. Good to have it officially confirmed that I shouldn’t listen to her. You’re quite split, almost 50:50 on whether you prefer standalones or series, so… I guess I should continue to be confused about which to write.

I didn’t actually ask this question, but almost none of you spend your free time potholing, which to be honest I could have predicted. On the emails though, there was a clear call for more stories and pictures of life in Spain, which I shall try to provide, starting right now (hence the haircut, honestly I was undistinguishable from a hedge this morning).

There’s a lot more, which is – all jokes aside – actually very helpful to me, though I’m not entirely sure how to act directly on it. At the same time I do think it influences me in subtle ways that I don’t understand, which is coincidentally also how Maria gets me to do the hoovering.

If you did miss the survey the first time around, there’s still time to fill it in. If you did fill it in already, thank you. And there were lots of lovely comments which I had a very fun time reading through. You’re all lovely, thank you so much!

Survey Link: (don’t forget this time…)

Right. Thoughts on the new haircut not welcome, but please do comment on my attempts to teach the dog to fly…

Gregg

*these would be the fourth book in the Erica Sands series, either called The Calm (if I have my way) or The Kill (if my editor gets her way). Let’s just call it The Kill. And then the book I was going to call The Follower, except my editor didn’t like that name either, so call that TBC.