I’m not planning on setting many in the way of writing goals this year, having seen previous attempts falling by the wayside too often. I do, however, have a number of projects being worked on, including a novella that has just been published, which I will discuss in a moment. Beyond the novella, I have just finished writing a short crime story (that involves a cat) for a competition and to raise money for charity, then I have to do a final edit on my collaboration novel for publication later in the year.
After that, I will be working on the first in a new crime series which will be sent to agents and publishers initially rather than self-publishing like the Christie novels. I will also be looking to publish a football related crime novella (again for charity), which may include some additional stories with the publication. If time permits, I will re-visit DI Christie at the end of the year, either for a short story, novella or to work on book 6.
As I said, I have just published a novella called ‘This is Not the Athens Train’, a spy-thriller type story set in Greece. The title comes from a family joke when we were visiting friends/family in Thessaloniki and getting a train back to Athens to fly home. When a heavily graffitied train pulled up to the station, I assumed that it was a local train. I said the now immortal words and they have stuck ever since. I even received a Penguin Books print of the words, so I had to write the story.
The genre is a little different to my usual crime thriller style, but I enjoyed writing this and it is something I may come back to in the future. I certainly had fun creating the characters and their back story, so I know there are more stories to be shared with these people. Growing up watching the James Bond films, I suppose the novella is a love letter to both that style of drama as well as Northern Greece which I have visited many times to see our Greek family.
A while back, I came across the book 1001 Songs to Listen to Before You Die. It’s one is a series that also includes subjects like books, films and albums. I think the songs version is the most achievable and I have a list from c2015 (they tend to update the list from time to time). I decided at the start of the year to start this challenge, by listening to all 1001 songs this year (even ones I have heard before). Breaking it down to 3 songs a day makes it more achievable and I am doing the list in chronological order. I’m currently well ahead of schedule (165 at time of writing), so I’m confident that I can keep this up. It has been relatively easy so far, as most songs from the early period of recordings were between 2 and 3 minutes long.
Thanks again for reading my blog. This is Not the Athens Train (or TINTAT for short) is available to buy in eBook and Paperback format (link in the Books tab of this website). Please let me know what you think and if you would like me to revisit these characters in the future.
Ross Alexander Writer 