I've been too busy to blog lately, which is probably a good thing. So, to catch up...
I'm finishing up some revisions that my agent suggested for Bitter Water Blues. My wife and kids are in Disney World, so I have plenty of peace and quiet in which to work. Yesterday was tough. They left midmorning and I spent the rest of the day just sort of dubbin' around. Today I got more used to their absence and was able to focus on working. I told Renee she'd get the manuscript by the 20th, and it looks like I'll be able to live up to that.
I've also been working on novel number two, which--contrary to what I said a few months back--will not be a sequel to BWB. After five years of working on that book, I need a break from the characters.
The new novel is the first in a proposed series about ex-PI Gideon Cross. "Pandora," a short story introducing Giddy, will appear in an upcoming issue of Thrilling Detective. I won't say much about the novel right now, except that Giddy gets sucker-punched on the first page and things go downhill from there.
In non-Patrick news:
The latest issue of Mystery Scene has interviews with Tana French, Richard Stark and Marcus Sakey. There is also an interesting article by Art Taylor about crime novels from the civil rights era. And thanks to Kate Stine for yet another freebie issue. She's so cool.
Russel D. McLean interviews Tony Black and Reed Farrel Coleman talks about teaching a writers workshop in Crimespree #26.
I recently asked Chris F. Holm to write a paragraph or two about what went into his EQMM-published short story "The World Behind," which my crime-writing class is asigned to read next week. Chris went way above and beyond, sending me four pages of "the story behind the story." It's great stuff and it will be good for my students to learn about the writing process from someone other than me for a change. Some of them have been taking my classes for three semesters now, and I worry about repeating myself. Okay, this last bit was semi-Patrick news. Sue me.
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6 comments:
That's the nicest spin I've ever heard for my long-windedness...
I hear you when you say Novel #2 will not be with the same characters. I'm finishing up my second novel and I've been living with it for two years. The only thing I can think about come completion time is "Next!"
I have some ideas for a novel using some of the characters from BITTER WATER BLUES, but it wouldn't be a true sequel. More like what Scott Phillips did with THE ICE HARVEST and THE WALKAWAY.
Sounds like you're a mean machine up there.
Glad that Bitter Water Blues is well on its way. I've been following the saga since the days of Hillbillies and Hitmen (which was a great blog). Can't wait to read BWB.
Rich, you made my day. Thanks.
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