Well, this blog brings us to the fourth and final weekly update regarding the books that I have published thus far. Lightning Bolt is the third in the current DI Jo Christie series and it was good to get back to these characters after a few years away working on other stories and a couple of WIPs that got stuck around the 25k word count mark.
I started writing this one at the beginning of 2023 and it started with an idea – what if someone was stabbing people, but not to kill them? I wrote the prologue to the novel which begins the story with the first stabbing which happens in Stockbridge, Edinburgh. The hook to the novel is that the perpetrator makes the victim get out their phone and call an ambulance immediately after they have been stabbed. There is also a cryptic saying that is stated just before the blade goes in. ‘This is for the ones who couldn’t fight back…’
Throughout the novel you get to hear from the victims, but which ones are being honest and which are hiding something? We also meet the stabber throughout the novel, someone called ‘Mac’. As well as developing the existing characters, I introduced two new ones who I fully expect to make a return in subsequent novels.
There’s something comforting about returning to the people that you have created and developed over a few novels. When I got a little stuck with the other WIPs, I thought it would be a good idea to return to the DI Christie series and the book certainly came together well (in my humble opinion). One main difference to the writing of this one, was that I knew from the start who did it and that was what made it easy to add the scenes with Mac, similar to how I handled ‘The Chain’ character previously. Fans of The Chain will be glad to hear that he makes an appearance again in this one and his story is also developing.
My writing brain has also started working on the idea for the fourth DI Christie novel and I have always fancied attempting a festive novel, so that is what I hope will happen. With my novella nearly complete, I may even have the time to write it in time for release at this year’s festive season. I might even put on a little Wham and Slade to get me in the mood…
Thanks again for reading my blog. I love writing the Christie novels, but love hearing what people think more, so let me know your thoughts by leaving a review and/or rating at Goodreads and/or Amazon. If you’ve not already read the series, you can get them from the ‘Books’ section of this website. I always keep the cost as low as possible, so if you’re an eBook reader, you can order all three for less than the price of a coffee and cake. I’m not saying they will be better, but they will certainly last longer…
Ross Alexander Writer 