Weekly Blog - 16th June
As expected, I spent most of last week finalising the latest draft of Blood Law (the sequel to Justice For All). The last thing I did before sending it back to my editor was to read through a printed copy of the novel. This was an interesting and useful exercise, as I hadn’t looked at Blood Law in some time (indeed, I’d already started work on the next novel in the Hunter series). Going back to something in this way enables you to approach it with a fresh perspective. Sentences that read just fine some months earlier suddenly don’t look quite right.
I find that I have a tendency to overwrite, so as I go through the editing process I generally make more cuts than additions – an odd word here, a whole sentence there – all of which help to tighten the prose and speed up the narrative. By the time I’d finished my read through I’d taken out 2,000 words or so, and the book was much improved as a result. Blood Law is now back in the hands of my editorial team at MIRA Publishing, and I hope they agree that it’s good to go!
On the social front, I’ve had a relatively quiet week after the excitement of the previous couple. Just one gig to report on – Lost Prophets at the U.E.A. I’ve been a fan of these Welsh rockers since the release of their debut album back in 2001, and the last time I saw them play live was on the main stage at the Reading Festival in 2007, where they put on a fantastic performance that had the whole crowd jumping. I therefore had high expectations for the gig, which may go some way to explain why I left the venue a little disappointed. While the band themselves were on form, and the lead singer Ian Watkins cemented his reputation as one of the best front men around, the sound was a bit ropey – too bass heavy, with either the vocals or the guitars (or even both!) getting lost in the mix. Ah well, you can’t win ‘em all, but as they’ve just been added to this years V Festival line-up, I’m hoping for a more incendiary performance in a couple of months time.
That’s it for now, as I’ve got a busy day in the garden ahead of me – erecting a shed!
Cheers,
Steve
I find that I have a tendency to overwrite, so as I go through the editing process I generally make more cuts than additions – an odd word here, a whole sentence there – all of which help to tighten the prose and speed up the narrative. By the time I’d finished my read through I’d taken out 2,000 words or so, and the book was much improved as a result. Blood Law is now back in the hands of my editorial team at MIRA Publishing, and I hope they agree that it’s good to go!
On the social front, I’ve had a relatively quiet week after the excitement of the previous couple. Just one gig to report on – Lost Prophets at the U.E.A. I’ve been a fan of these Welsh rockers since the release of their debut album back in 2001, and the last time I saw them play live was on the main stage at the Reading Festival in 2007, where they put on a fantastic performance that had the whole crowd jumping. I therefore had high expectations for the gig, which may go some way to explain why I left the venue a little disappointed. While the band themselves were on form, and the lead singer Ian Watkins cemented his reputation as one of the best front men around, the sound was a bit ropey – too bass heavy, with either the vocals or the guitars (or even both!) getting lost in the mix. Ah well, you can’t win ‘em all, but as they’ve just been added to this years V Festival line-up, I’m hoping for a more incendiary performance in a couple of months time.
That’s it for now, as I’ve got a busy day in the garden ahead of me – erecting a shed!
Cheers,
Steve
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