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Yesterday was fun and interesting and thank you everyone for taking the time to come along. It was terrific to see you.

Declan Hughes was in fine fettle and it was a delight to hear him read extracts from his new novel. Also funny because it was our first time reading our new material and we rather fluffed some of our lines on occasion, though Declan can make a much soother recovery than me!

Mia Gallagher was a warm and engaging host with canny questions and astute observations. The afternoon flew by.It was great to talk to other readers and writers about our experiences as authors and I hope I was able to answer all questions put to me as honestly as possible.

One thing in particular tickled me silly. A lady seated to Mia’s right began to write on paper as I was reading a passage from my new book, Blood Money. The scene I chose is set in a restaurant and I wrote-briefly- of a waitress who is rude to one of the characters in the book.

I describe her thusly…”She was about fifty and as broad as she was tall with wiry hair dyed a harsh flat red and hastily drawn on eyebrows. Her fingers were stained with nicotine and her uniform was crumpled and needed a wash. The plastic name-plate pinned to her chest read ‘Jadranka.’”

From this short description the lady I mention then handed me an unbelievable sketch of Jadranka in all her splendour and it was her! Exactly as I saw her in my head. I was completely blown away. How fantastic a gift to draw so well and to create an image like that from a few short lines. Then after I was really chuffed because, as my friend Megan pointed out on the way down the street, it also means that what I write can be visualized so vividly.

So lady, if you ever read this, thank you, you made me grin like a Cheshire Cat for some time. And to everyone else, thanks again for a lovely afternoon.

Arlene

Next Saturday I will be attending the IAD-T in the People’s Park in Dun Laoghaire this coming Saturday (30th of January). There will be a discussion on crime writing with Declan Hughes and I will be reading from the new and so far unpublished new book Blood Money. I hope you can come along.
Arlene

I’ll keep this short and sweet as I am up to my eyeballs doing edits this morning- indeed morning is almost over- gah!

Release date for Blood Money as I may have mentioned is March 5th, which is a Friday,  but I think I will have a book launch, perhaps on the 4th (?). So keep your fancy diaries open for an evening around that time. Come one and all, everybody will be welcome.

Also, yay for Christmas, I wasn’t really feeling it up until today, but we’re finally putting up a tree and decorations today and the party/lunch/catch-up pints time is firmly under way. I love this time of year and I hope everyone is having a great time.

Here’s the working cover for Blood Money which will be out early in 2010.

Click the image for a closer look.

Oh my, it has been so very long since I last updated. Mea Culpa, but YES (!) Darren and H’olic, I have been awfully busy, typing, and eating toast and running and…okay, I have no real excuse, I simply don’t like to waffle unless I have something to say.

Today I finished Blood Money, the next QuicK Investigation book, all going well with the edits and copy edits  and so on it ought to be in shops by February or thereabouts. It will actually my 7th book-amazing to me- I wrote an entirely different book earlier in the year called The Outsider. It was a rather radical departure from the J&S books which understandably my publishers were a little uncertain about. (I am  a brand after all(!) heh) It made sense to me that they would hesitate, business is business and I am not so precious about my work that I will kick up my skirts in a hissy fit if told no.

Blood Money was a cracking fun book to write and I hope readers enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Poor John, he really is lost without Sarah around to keep his feet on the ground. As much as it might pain him to admit it, she was such an integral part of their team he is in this book finding it hard going without her.

I really enjoyed the research involved in this novel. The book is about the illegal trade in organ trafficking and the fallout involved when vulnerable people are used to sustain the lives of the wealthy. It was certainly an eye opener and a stark reminder to me to always carry my donor card. If anything ever happens to me I want my body-such as it is- to be as much use as possible to as many as possible. My beloved father in law is the recipient of a heart from a family who lost a loved one, so it is of special importance to me.

I will attempt to sell The Outsider as a stand alone and see how that rolls. I personally love the book to pieces and sent it out to two readers whose opinions I value greatly and they both really enjoyed  it, so I am tentatively optimistic. Fingers crossed that someone else will read it and think the same.

In other non wild news I have a new jacket I am in love with and Opus, my adored basset, celebrated his 13th birthday.  

Take care everyone.

Arlene x

I’m gently sunburned, but turning a nice shade of brown. I was sitting here earlier with the  dog, thinking about by best friend’s wedding next week. Will it be sunny? I truly hope so. But if it ain’t? Well, if is ain’t it ain’t. She’ll still be marrying a wonderful man, she’ll still be a beautiful bride, I’ll still be proud of her and trying not to ruin the makeup with tears of joy.

Working hard on book 7, entitled Blood money. It should be finished by the end of August as I have one third of it in the bag as I type. For some reason I work doubly hard when the weather is glorious. How odd is that? Then when BM is completed I plan to take my hiney off to the States for some research. I hate leaving my office, so that should be interesting.

Reading The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher at the moment and enjoying it immensely I am very surprised so many people didn’t ‘get’ the book. I thought it was excellent and Kate Summerscale really captured the startling starling-like flights of fancy of the Victorian public.

I am looking forward to speaking with Kate next week at the Abbey, there is an interesting conflation between her book and Val McDermid’s A Darker Domain that I would like to explore. I hope I can do both ladies justice. Until then, may the skies stay blue, may the wind be kind and may my darling daughter ease her way into the leaving cert with all the grace and attention she exhibits towards rock bands.

Time off is boring. I have mowed the lawn to death, cleaned out under the stairs, cleaned out the shed, walked the dog repeatedly, considered developing a drinking problem, rejected said thought, run for miles and  have finally reached the conclusion that I don’t actually like time off. It’s as dull as dishwater. So now that I can admit that I can cheerfully crack on with book 7( no title, no plot, no clue).

Currently reading Val McDermid’s book A Darker Domain, and  will then read Kate Summerscale’s Suspicions of Mr Whicher. I will be chairing an evening between these two authors in the Abbey Theatre on June 7th and would like to know what I am talking about for once.

You can take a gander at what the festival is dishing up here,

Tickets are still available I believe.

Well, I didn’t win for best crime thingie and that blasted Alex did. Fortunately I had bigger hair, so nah nah ni nah nah.

No seriously, it was a terrific night and Andrew and I had a cracking time. I got to meet up with Brian McGilloway and his lovely wife and a glowing Tana and her charming beau, and of course Alex, the delightful hussy. Big ups to Ciara Considine and Faith and Breda, and congrats to Ronan on his win for best new author.

I also want to say a big thank you to everyone who voted, I really appreciated your support. I will retire to my sofa now, with my slightly ouchy head, and feel glad and proud to have been a part of the event. Hurrah for books.

Today I was running in the BUPA Great Run -at the speed of no kittens- when I realised I was thoroughly enjoying myself, despite my lack of any real pace. The sun was shining, my friend Ian was running ahead of me, all was pretty much right with the world. I don’t normally get bursts of contentment so wholesome so I basked in it. Then I hit the 8k mark and had to run up a hill.

I have finished book 6. The working name was The Vision, but on reflection I think I might change it to The Outsider, a more fitting title . Oh I’ve got two more weeks of edits and hair pulling, but it’s all there, the bones, some of the skin, hair and make up are next.

This bit, this bit here, the edits, are like that hill at the 8k mark, the race is behind you, but you’ve still got to run that last bit. Oh you’re tired and you’re pink faced but the end is in sight so you think what the hell, you’ll give it everything you’ve got. And you do, and by golly it’s all good.

I came home from my race to find my husband had painted the back wall. We’ve had our garden done, three weeks of carting top soil, hardcore, pebbles, sleepers, sand, rolls of lawn and cement in from the front, by hand, in wheelbarrows. This too is nearly done, the bones are there, hair and make up are next.

I planted a scented Jasmine against the freshly painted back wall. Opus, my aged basset hound, plonked his big backside down beside it and gave it the once over, it seemed he approved.

When the race is nearly run you can really appreciate the little things.

( Ian finished at a blistering 42 something or other seconds, I poodled in almost 20 minutes after. We are going for pint in an hour or so, oh yes, a fine day indeed)

You know, I’ve been terrible remiss with my blog here, mea culpa. In my defense I’ve been working flat out on a new book called The Vision, and as the deadline approaches like a grouchy pale rider I’ve become more insular and slightly frothy at the mouth. But it was with the greatest of pleasure that I drifted into the Westbury yesterday to enjoy the experience of Undertow making the  Irish Book Awards shortlist for crime novel of the year.

I’m in with some good company, there is also Tana French, Alex Barclay and Brian McGilloway in my category. I have forewarned Brian  -in an act of extreme kindness-   that I plan to poison his food on the night of the award show proper. Not that I think he’s the only one to beat, but he emailed me offering congratulations, so I thought it only fair to give him a heads up. Tana and Alex are just going to have to bring food testers.

I was interviewed yesterday about crime writing and as I rambled on for a few moments about being chuffed to be nominated at all, it occurred to me I wasn’t just waffling. I am really delighted. Especially since there are some glaring omissions from the list, chaps whose books I devour the moment the ink is dry and their copy is the shops.

So hurrah for crime writing. Apart from the poisoning I wish everyone well.

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