Damned if I had a good answer. I suppose it’s fear, fear of failure, fear of making a wally of myself at the launch, fear of the unknown. I am not a fearful person by nature, but for some reason I have a lot of stock in Blood Money. I like the book a lot, I so want people to like it too, for it to fire up for them the moral questions the subject matter does for me, I want people to read it and ask themselves what they might do in the situation some of  my characters find themselves, to carry donor cards, to be ‘aware’.

Then I think, ‘good grief, get over yourself Missus.’

Well, Blood Money will do as it will do. I want only to tell a story, to be read and to entertain. If I can pull that one off, it will do,  it will do nicely.

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

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.

Click the image for a closer look.

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

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.

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.

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.