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A very warm welcome to the April 2024 edition of the newsletter!
As I look out the window, spring has definitely sprung, and as the clocks prepare to leap forward by an hour (I’m writing this on Saturday morning), I’m reminded that this time of the year is typically regarded as a period of growth and new life.
Aa such, it seems quite appropriate that, in the last few weeks, I’ve begun work on the first draft of what I’m hoping will end up being my next book – currently going by the enigmatic codename of
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I know, catchy title, right? Rest assured, it’s merely a placeholder until I settle on a more appropriate one. It does have some relevance to the book’s subject matter – or rather to one of the characters – but that’s all I’m going to say for now.
I have around 25,000 words in the bank, and while progress so far has been considerably slower – and more laborious – than it was for The Reckoning at a similar stage, I’m starting to realise I was a bit spoiled by how quickly and easily that book came together – to the extent that experiencing the more conventional growing pains of a “normal” first draft has been something of a rude awakening.
“Oh yeah, this is how it normally feels to write a first draft…”
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m planning to keep the details of this project under wraps until it’s in a more finished state – partly because there’s still an outside chance that I’ll decide, either before or after I’ve completed a full first draft, that the idea doesn’t have as much potential as I’d originally hoped… in which case I’ll have no option but to put it back in the drawer and start afresh with something completely different. Hopefully it won’t come to that – especially as I’ve committed to a February/March 2025 release window! – but I don’t want to risk announcing something only for it never to see the light of day. This one’s a bit of a gamble, but, if it pays off, it should make for a very satisfying read.
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In last month’s newsletter, I asked you which of the four Anna Scavolini novels that have been released so far was your favourite. The results are in, and I’m sure you’re dying to know how the final tally ended up. So, without further ado…
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In first place, with just shy of 50% of the vote, was Women Who Kill. That’s slightly surprising but undeniably gratifying, for two reasons.
First, I knew I was taking something of a risk in writing a cold case mystery in which the bulk of the action took place in the past. In contrast to the previous books in the series, all of which had an element of clear and present danger to keep the tension high, Women Who Kill doesn’t really ramp up the personal threat to Anna until the final act, so I knew the book would live or die based on the strength of the central mystery. I’m glad it seems to have paid off!
Second, every writer looks to improve their craft and make each subsequent book better than the last. That the latest book in the series is the clear favourite strongly suggests I’m on the right track! Here’s hoping that trend continues…
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In second place, with roughly 32% of the vote, is the one that started it all: In the Silence. Again, not necessarily a surprise: it’s by far the best-selling book in the series, and I know the classic whodunit structure resonates with a lot of people. The series wouldn’t be where it is today if In the Silence hadn’t made such a big impression (and been nominated for not one but TWO prestigious awards!), so I’m happy to see it getting its due.
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In third place, at 14%, is The Shadow Men, book three in the series. The culmination of a loose trilogy that began with In the Silence, it needed to resolve a significant number of dangling plot threads while still telling an engaging, self-contained story, and if the reviews are anything to go by (it’s my highest-rated book on both Amazon and Goodreads), it seems to have succeeded on both fronts!
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Finally, spare a thought for Cruel Summer, which didn’t get much of a look-in. In some respects, I’m not entirely surprised to see it coming last. It’s always been sort of the red-headed stepchild of the series (an appropriate enough analogy, if a rather unkind one) in the sense that it’s the only one where Anna plays more of a supporting role, ceding the spotlight to Zoe. But I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t hoped to see it poll higher. While I wouldn’t go as far as to call it my favourite (I don’t think I could ever settle on just one), I do have a soft spot for it. I thoroughly enjoyed writing a whole book focusing on Zoe and think I really succeeded in getting inside her head and understanding what made her tick. Actually, I’d love to go back and do another Zoe-centric book one of these days…
So there we have it! We you surprised at all by the results, or were they more or less in line with what you were expecting? I’d certainly be curious to repeat this poll a few months down the line, once The Reckoning has been in people’s hands for a while, to see if it disrupts the overall balance.
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There’s gonna be a reckoning…
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Speaking of The Reckoning, feedback has started to come in from my ARC team – all of it positive so far. Multiple typos have been squelched, as well as a couple of minor inaccuracies which don’t impact the overall plot but which I’m nonetheless glad to have had the opportunity to correct. All told, the manuscript is in a really good place, and it looks like I’ll be able to lock it down in plenty of time before the 27 May release date.
By the way, if you missed the cover reveal last month, here it is again:
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And here’s the link to the Kindle edition, in case you’d like to pre-order it to make sure it’s automatically delivered to your device at midnight (or thereabouts) on release day:
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And, if you prefer to own a paperback copy, pre-order links will go live at some point in May, if not sooner. Either way, I’ll let you know when they’re up.
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And now, back to the grindstone for me! My goal is to write another 2,000 words of PROJECT STRINGBEAN before the end of the day, the logic being that the sooner I have a complete draft, the sooner I can start picking it apart and figuring out what works and what needs to be changed.
I’ll be in touch again at the beginning of May, by which point the launch of The Reckoning
will be mere weeks away. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait!
Until then, happy reading!
Best wishes,
Michael
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Currently reading
The Hunter (Tana French, 2024)
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Last film watched
Late Night with the Devil (Colin Cairnes, Cameron Cairnes, 2023)
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On the jukebox
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (The Complete Recordings) (Howard Shore, 2005)
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M.R. Mackenzie
Unit 29574, PO Box 26965, Glasgow, Scotland
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