Friday, January 17, 2014

This morning, Behind Closed Doors became my eighth consecutive book to make the top-20 of the Kindle crime charts, following Jessica 1-6 and Watched. First, then, a thank you to the readers who continue to buy and read my books. It’s incredibly flattering and has genuinely changed my life.

On top of that, the incredible billboard picture below is currently up at Piccadilly Station in Manchester. It’s HUGE and almost surreal. Thanks to Michelle Saunders on Twitter for the photo and, of course, my publishers for their support. Many authors like myself who’ve had initial self-published success have been completely abandoned by the publishers *not mentioning names* but that could not be further from the truth with Pan.

Anyway…very minor Behind Closed Doors spoilers ahead…

If you’ve read Behind Closed Doors, you’ll know that it’s a little different from the other Jessica books. There are plenty of reasons for this. Firstly, I don’t want to keep doing the same thing. It’d be so easy to essentially write the same book over and over, change a few character names, and hope nobody notices. I try not to be lazy. That doesn’t mean everything I attempt will come off – I know that – but I’d rather try and fail, than write the same thing over and over. It’s not only boring, it takes the piss out of readers, believing they’ll buy any old shite because it has my name on it.

I don’t want to do that.

That might mean a reader doesn’t like something like Watched – or Behind Closed Doors – but at least I’m not insulting people’s intelligence.

Behind Closed Doors was an awkward novel to plot. It tells one story that lasts a year, with a second that lasts a week. What it also does – crucially – is allows me to ever so slightly reinvent the character of Jessica. Things ARE different in books eight, nine and beyond because she’s had time away from the job. There are new colleagues, new internal issues where she works. That type of thing is essential in a series to stop everyone from getting bored.

None of that means the events of books 1-7 are forgotten, in fact a few characters from earlier novels return in Crossing The Line, which is coming in the autumn. It’s also not reinventing the wheel. I write about things, places and people that interest me. It does mean – hopefully – that the Jessica books won’t become repetitive. I’d like to think that’s apparent in the subject matter. Broadly, books 1-3 were standard serial killer fare (that’s not completely true but close enough), book 4 was child abduction; 5 was an arsonist; 6 was organised crime; 7 was a cult.

I do try to be different.

Part of that is expanding Jessica’s world. Andrew Hunter, the private investigator from Playing with Fire, has his own series beginning in June. Down Among The Dead Men, out in 2015, is a standalone crime novel in the sense it’s self-contained and needs no knowledge of my other books, but it’s set in Jessica’s world. There are events referenced from the Jessica novels; characters whose names regular readers will recognise; plus people who’ll eventually crossover into the Jessica series.

All of that is possible because of Jessica’s ‘missing year’ that happens through Behind Closed Doors. An awful lot happened in those 12 months and, soon, readers will be able to find out what.

We’ve all been there: you’re with someone who you really want to impress. Perhaps a new boyfriend or girlfriend, maybe just someone you like who you want to like you. It’s not going well, conversation is a bit of a struggle. But everyone has an absolute banker of a story: y’know that one that you genuinely don’t tell too many people. Truthfully, most of us will have at least one thing that’s happened in our pasts that will definitely get a reaction. It might not be the worst thing in the world but it means a lot to you personally and is guaranteed to have the person to whom you tell it widening their eyes, leaning in and saying something assuring. Deep down, they might feel sorry for you and their view on you as a person will shift slightly.

Everyone has a story like that because it’s part of being human.

But few people throw those stories out there on something like a first date or a first meeting because it’s completely inappropriate, plus it’s a false reaction. You don’t want someone to like you because they feel sorry for you. you want them to like you because you’re a rounded, real individual.

And those are the reasons why my books are almost entirely gore and sex-free.

I have no moral obligations against either of those things in terms of fiction but, through storytelling, I consider them to be the same type of cheap, slack devices as when you pull out a sob story to make someone feel sorry for you.

Within their own contexts, they’re fine of course. I’ve not read Fifty Shades – but if it’s a book about sex and it has sex scenes, then fair enough. If you’re writing a crime book about crime, then it’s not.

I could easily write something gory or explicit. There’s no skill there, but, in doing so, all I’d be doing is searching for a cheap-as-chips response from my readers and that’s just lazy. I’d be doing that because I’m such an appalling desert of imagination that I can’t get a reaction any other way.

I want readers to have a strong feeling – like or dislike – towards Jessica and, indeed, all of my characters. I want them to think of my creations as rounded, real individuals and come back to read more books in the various series because of that.

There are thousands of crime books published every year. I don’t believe anybody reads my books because they’re desperate to know the identity of the next crime I’ve come up with, nor because there’s a twist at the end. EVERY crime novel/movie/TV episode, etc, has some sort of twist or revelation – that’s the game. You can be as smart as you want but, because it’s expected, most people won’t care. They’ll think, ‘Oh, that’s clever’, or, ‘Oh, that’s surprising’, finish the book/movie/TV show, and move onto the next thing. You’re yesterday’s fish and chip paper, discarded and largely forgotten. What readers and viewers DO care about is people – characters.

I want readers to to speculate about what comes next; to buy the books on the day they come out, or pre-order; to look forward to publication days; to email and contact me in the meantime because they’re interested and concerned about what happens. I want all of that because it makes me successful as a storyteller and means I’ve done what I’m supposed to do.

For the most part, I believe I’ve achieved that. My readers are fantastic and the contact from them between releases is sometimes at the point where I struggle to stay on top of it. I’ve had seven consecutive crime books in Amazon’s top-20. I’ve had ebook pre-orders go to number one above worldwide sensations such as Dan Brown and James Patterson without anything even close to the levels of marketing. I say that not to boast, but because I don’t believe that’s a result I could achieve if my books were full of throwaway shock-and-awe tricks.

Like the best horror movies – Kubrick, Hitchcock – the lingering memories are the ones where things happen away from the screen. It leaves a mark, unlike something in the vein of, say, Hostel or Saw, which is watched, winced at, and forgotten. It’s utterly disposable. It gets a reaction but it’s there and gone.

A connection from author to reader is so much more powerful if you’ve managed to make people care through creating characters to be loved or loathed, rather than throwing out cheap gore or sex scenes. Those thrills might get a basic shock-value reaction but also means many readers will have forgotten who you are a few days after they’ve finished reading.

And so, in the same way that we as people hold onto our most-affecting stories because, for the most part, we’re not after pity, I do the same in my books. I hold back as much as possible. I don’t want people to feel sorry for / despise / love my characters because I’ve described in intricate detail the horrible things that’s happened to them, or happened at their hand. That’s not a real reaction. I want readers to like – or dislike – my characters because of who they are.

Up until last month, I’d never written a short story. That is particularly odd, seeing as my seventh crime novel is about to be released. I also have a young adult-adventure-fantasy series coming this year, plus Something Wicked, the first in the series of Andrew Hunter books.

I write all the time, pretty much every day. I’ve got so many notes about future projects that I’m never really sure what to do next.

The thing about writing novels, certainly in my case, is that I have all sorts of little ideas knocking around. Characters who just don’t fit into novels; plots that are too short to be incorporated into a wider novel; scenes that would be out of place.

Last month, my publishers asked if I’d be up for writing a short story to work as an exclusive piece of bonus content for one of the shops who will be selling my books. That’s the thing with writing books, you need someone to sell them. Amazon are great, they really are, but not everyone wants to buy online. Tesco have been incredibly supportive, too, plus the Arndale Waterstones and a few other places. Sometimes retailers want a little something in response to their loyalty, which is fair enough. It all works two ways.

So I wrote a little 6,000-word story, of which I’m ridiculously proud, largely because it went from blank page to finished in six hours. Sometimes things take on a life of their own, almost writing themselves and this was definitely one of those.

It has a very simple title:

———————–
APRIL
It’s every parent’s worse nightmare.
   April Willis is walking to school when someone in a white van tries to snatch her from the street.
   It’s the second attack in less than a week, and, with parents and students beginning to panic, it’s down to Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel to find the culprit.
———————–

From next week (I’m not sure of the exact date), the supermarket Morrisons will be selling a version of the Behind Closed Doors paperback with “April” in the back. Incidentally, that isn’t a sticker in the picture. It’s part of the cover, meaning it is a genuine limited edition. It is only available in stores and, as far as I’m aware, when they’re gone, they’re gone. Certainly within the first week, there should be no distribution problems but after that, I don’t know. I know it’s rare there’s something that’s an actual limited edition. Usually there are millions of the bloody things floating around with “limited” on the cover. They’re as limited as a red-top front page is “exclusive”. It’s marketing nonsense.

With this, that’s not the case, it really is limited. If you want one, get to a Morrisons in the week or so after the release date of 16 January. You never know, if one of you run me over next week (please don’t), it’ll suddenly soar in value.

Now, I know exactly what many people will be thinking: What about the ebook version?

This feels like a strange post to write. Watched is far from the first standalone novel I’ve written away from Jessica, but it is the first to be published.

Sales have been good and the reception as mixed as I expected. It’s far, far darker than the Jessica books and I knew some people wouldn’t like or get it.

But the thing I didn’t expect is that a handful of people haven’t ‘got’ the ending. It was read by a fair few people before it was released and nobody flagged up an issue. I’ve also rechecked the text and all the clues I meant to be there are there. Because there are a few people who haven’t got it, though, I will explain it here.

Needless to say, there are SPOILERS ahead. Please don’t read on if you don’t want to be spoiled.

– SPOILERS – SPOILERS – SPOILERS – SPOILERS – SPOILERS – SPOILERS – SPOILERS – SPOILERS –

The end is meant to be open to interpretation, bearing in mind that you never actually get Charlie’s version of what happened on the night Dougie was attacked. The last thing you get from his point of view is: “…he’d failed her [Esther] and now had to think of a way to redeem himself, without involving the police.”

After that, you only have Esther’s version.

It’s not supposed to be complete in the sense that everything’s put on a plate. With the information you have, you can decide on whichever ending you want. With Charlie’s last thought, is that him thinking that he is going to attack Dougie? Esther has just pulled a bat out from mud and spotted mud on Charlie’s shoes after he denied leaving the house, so that’s what she thinks…

You might think differently. Perhaps Charlie isn’t capable of attacking Dougie and it is all a misunderstanding? It’s for the reader to decide how much they know the characters.

The crash takes the story full circle. What happens to good people when they allow themselves to be dragged down to someone else’s level?

– SPOILERS – SPOILERS – SPOILERS – SPOILERS – SPOILERS – SPOILERS – SPOILERS – SPOILERS –

So… that’s it. I’m not sure what else to add. Perhaps I was trying to be too clever or perhaps the clues were too obscure. I don’t think that line from Charlie could be much clearer – it’s the last line of his final chapter. It isn’t hidden away.

As with my previous competition, I had more entries for this than any I’ve run before. Numbers are really building.

Thanks to everyone for entering.

Anyway, the seven winners of an advance copy of Behind Closed Doors are:

• Maxine Evans from Port Talbot;
• Kimara Sharpe from Bromsgrove;
• Vanessa Haley from Golcar, West Yorkshire;
• Marcus Delph from Ely, Cambridgeshire;
• Melanie Dann from Plymouth;
• Charlet Stephenson from Darlington;
• and Kerry Weaver (good name) from Yaxley, Peterborough

Winners were chosen via a number generated at random.org.

If you didn’t win, the book is available to pre-order in all sorts of places:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Behind Closed Doors (Jessica Daniel book seven) is out on January 16 and I have seven paperback copies to give away (it is book seven, after all!)

Entry is completely free and all you need to do is fill in the form below. Your details will NOT be passed to any other parties or companies and you will NOT be spammed.

The closing date is Friday, January 3, 2014 at 6pm. Seven entries will be selected at random.

You can’t enter if I know you personally – and only one entry per person (although if there’s more of you living in one house and you have different email addresses, you can have more than one per household).

I’ll post the winners’ names on the Facebook page and will email them personally.

January 16, 2014:
Behind Closed Doors (Jessica Daniel 7)
Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel has barely left her house in months, isolated away from friends and colleagues. She may have given up on herself but one man is sure she still has something to offer.

DCI Jack Cole gives her a chance at redemption: An opportunity to help a neighbouring force by discovering what is going on with a reclusive community living in a stately home in the middle of nowhere.

People are going missing, turning up dead with only a vague link back to the house. But can Jessica beat her own demons in time to find out exactly what’s going on behind closed doors?

It’s quite a busy time at the moment, so I thought I’d share my UK release schedule for the next eight months or so.

October 24, 2013:
Thicker Than Water (Jessica Daniel 6)
When Cameron and Eleanor Sexton arrive home to find their babysitter missing but their child and property otherwise untouched, Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel is sent on what she thinks is a fool’s errand to find out what happened.

But Jessica is left confused as the teenager’s body turns up in the bath of a different house seemingly at random – a puzzle which only deepens when a journalist points out that someone placed an obituary for him days before he went missing.

With one colleague leaving while another returns, plus a local businessman taking an unhealthy interest in her, Jessica turns to home to find the one person she can rely on. But is that trust misplaced?

November 14, 2013: (worldwide release date):
Watched: When Road Rage Follows You Home
AN AMAZON EXCLUSIVE

Dougie Jamieson is a pillar of the community. He’s won awards for his work with children, his brother is a chief inspector and he runs the neighbourhood watch scheme.

But Esther Pooley sees him differently.

After a road rage incident, she’s convinced he’s the person terrorising her and husband Charlie at their suburban dream home.

As the stakes begin to rise, they must decide if bricks and mortar are worth more than their relationship, with Charlie left with the toughest of all dilemmas. How far will he go to protect his wife?

• Available on Amazon UK – Amazon.com – Amazon France – Amazon Germany – Amazon Italy – Amazon Spain

January 16, 2014:
Behind Closed Doors (Jessica Daniel 7)
Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel has barely left her house in months, isolated away from friends and colleagues. She may have given up on herself but one man is sure she still has something to offer.

DCI Jack Cole gives her a chance at redemption: An opportunity to help a neighbouring force by discovering what is going on with a reclusive community living in a stately home in the middle of nowhere.

People are going missing, turning up dead with only a vague link back to the house. But can Jessica beat her own demons in time to find out exactly what’s going on behind closed doors?

May 22, 2014:
Reckoning (Silver Blackthorn 1)
In the village of Martindale, hundreds of miles north of the new English capital of Windsor, sixteen-year-old Silver Blackthorn takes the Reckoning. This coming-of-age test not only decides her place in society – Elite, Member, Inter or Trog – but also determines that Silver is to become an Offering for King Victor.

But these are uncertain times and no-one really knows what happens to the teenagers who disappear into Windsor Castle. Is being an Offering the privilege everyone assumes it to be, or do the walls of the castle have something to hide?

Trapped in a maze of ancient corridors, Silver finds herself in a warped world of suspicion where it is difficult to know who to trust and who to fear. The one thing Silver does know is that she must find a way out . . .

June 2014:
Something Wicked (Andrew Hunter 1)
Spinning out from the pages of Playing With Fire (Jessica Daniel 5)…

Nicholas Carr disappeared on his 18th birthday and the world has moved on. His girlfriend has gone to university, his friends have got jobs, the police have other things to look into.

But his father, Richard, is still stuck on the three fingers the police dug up from a sodden Manchester wood. What happened to Nicholas on the night he disappeared and why did he never come home?