This week saw the end of a significant chapter in my writing journey with the long awaited publication of my co-authored novel ‘Sylvia’s Seven’. The novel has been around 12 years in the making, and I have discussed the process and history of it in previous blogs.
For those new to this site, the novel has been published under the pseudonym of Alexander Simpson, the partnership of myself and writing brother, Brodie Simpson. We wrote alternating chapters, often without discussing where each of us was taking the story. It started off with a premise and the creating of 3 main characters each and it was only once we had completed around 75% of the book, that we came together to discuss how it would end. It was such a fun project to be part of and only a mixture of changing jobs, moving country (in Brodie’s case) and personal life situations to deal with prevented it coming out sooner. All great things, some may say…
The story surrounds six estranged friends who return to Edinburgh to attend the funeral of their old English professor. Events transpire which throws them all together again, working to solve a mystery that could lead to the discovery of a secret that they had been holding for 30 years and, if revealed, could ruin their lives. The story references the life and work of Sylvia Plath, hence the title.
Brodie and I will take time to enjoy the book being made public for the first time and look forward to hearing what readers think of it. It certainly has a different feel to the books I’ve published myself, but I believe that our writing styles certainly complemented each other and makes for a good story. If you do read the book, please be sure to leave a review to let us know your thoughts.
Having finally finished the not so straight-forward process of editing a book, written by 2 separate writers, with differing formats and hitting a little over 100,000 words, my attention turned onto my new writing project, that I have been building towards over the last couple of years. When I reached the age of 50, I promised myself that I would take my writing more seriously and look to get an agent. Nearly 2 years later, I have finally started writing a new series that will be queried upon completion, hopefully early next year.
It may be a bit of a risk going for a police procedural series, as recent trends appear to be moving towards the thriller genre, often as standalone novels. I’ve did this with my debut novel ‘Alive’, but have had more fun writing and developing the characters in the DI Joanne Christie series. It was a little daunting coming up with a whole cast of new characters, though I know already that I will enjoy writing their journeys over the series. Obviously, my aim will be to secure an agent and traditional publishing deal, however, if this does not transpire, I will continue to write them and publish them myself. I feel the dynamics of the main characters of the series is too good to keep hidden.
For those who have read and enjoyed my DI Christie series, don’t worry as I already have plans for the sixth book in the series. If my writing goes to plan, and I don’t get too sidetracked with short story competitions, I should have this written and published by the end of next year and I believe it will be well worth the wait.
All great things, right enough!
Thanks again for reading this blog. A link to Sylvia’s Seven will appear in the Books tab of this website and more information about Alexander Simpson will also appear in its own dedicated tab shortly.
