A little late – or early, depending on how you look at it, since I’ve merged two months of updates into one.
AUDIO BOOK
I was contacted by Brilliance Audio, in regards to doing an audio book of Hope’s Peak. This is through my publisher, Thomas & Mercer. I gave them my notes and recommendations for the recording; now it’s a case of sitting back and waiting to see what they come up with. I can’t deny I’m excited to hear my work read aloud, as a full drama presentation. More details on that when I have it.
HOPE’S PEAK
We now have a pre-order page (Click Here for the US link – Click Here for the UK link), with a product description:
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Beyond the shores of Hope’s Peak, North Carolina, evil waits as his next victim approaches. He’ll make her a princess like the others…
Detective Jane Harper can’t shake the image of the young woman discovered in a field—eyes closed, a crown of woven vines on her head. She expects macabre murders like this in her native San Francisco, not here. Jane and her partner, Stu, vow to catch the killer, but in this town, that’s easier said than done. The police department is in the grips of a wide-reaching scandal that could topple the entire force, and Jane and Stu face a series of dead ends. Until they meet Ida Lane.
Ida knows too well the evil that lurks in the cornfields. Tortured by her mother’s murder years before, Ida is paralyzed by the fear that she could be next. As the killer grows bolder, Jane must persuade Ida to use her remarkable gifts to help in the investigation. It’s a decision that brings them closer to the killer…maybe too close.
***
I was sent several pages of cover copy a few weeks back, and was mightily impressed by it. More importantly, I was impressed by the team at Thomas & Mercer. That has continued with their cover concepts. I was sent four possibles, and sent my editor Jacque my notes for those. They were extremely good, and did a great job of capturing the essence of the book, the feel of it, and the setting. Mine and Jacque’s notes have now gone back to the design team, who will continue their work on the covers. Eventually the covers will be whittled down until we have our final one. Again, I can’t praise the T&M team enough. I knew they’d get the book, and what I was aiming for, and they’ve not let me down once.
WRITING
I’m now 25,000 words into writing the sequel to Hope’s Peak. It’s coming along really nicely. I’m writing on my Chromebook, using an app I purchased called CalmlyWriter. It allows me to write in a big, open, clean environment, free of distractions. It saves to Google Drive, in .doc and other formats, and it’s just been brilliant. What I wanted was the experience you get from writing on a typewriter. I had an electric typewriter as a kid (taught myself to type on it), and I was getting a bit fed up with all the different functions of Word and Google Docs. I decided I just wanted basic text on a white background, no formatting, no options. But I wanted it to be reliable. CalmlyWriter, so far, has been fantastic. When I’m done, I can port that first rough draft over to Word, and go to town on it.
But for now, I’m really enjoying the simplicity of writing this way. If you use a Chromebook, I recommend giving CalmlyWriter a look. It’s very inexpensive.
READING
I have been regularly updating my Goodreads page lately (trying to get myself in the habit), so you can keep up with my reading activity there. The address is: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4858311.Tony_Healey
I’m currently reading The Fireman by Joe Hill. It’s really fantastic. He’s not writing in his father’s shadow. I think King is writing in his.
WATCHING
We recently finished up The Blacklist Season 3. Excellent. This week we get Orange Is The New Black Season 4. We can’t wait for this. I’m also looking forward to diving in on Bloodline Season 2, True Detective Season 2, and Better Call Saul Season 2.
That’s it! Back to the grindstone for me! 😉
Tony Healey 