I have just received the first draft cover for Grave Developments, plus, the character sketch came in as well. I will save that, and the full cover, for later, but for now, here is the title of Delamere Six:

By my reckoning, I have two more chapters to finish, and the story should be complete. My aim is to complete this draft by Monday morning at the latest. This is because, on Monday afternoon, I am going to Rhodes and won’t be back until Friday evening. Neil gets back from Scotland on Tuesday, into Rhodes, and I have some appointments, plus, I need to do some shopping. Here, on Symi, we have a few shops, but nothing like H&M or Zara.

The timeline I’ve set for publishing for Grave Developments means we are probably looking at the week before Christmas as the publication week. I don’t know if that’s a good time to publish a new book or not, but when it’s number six in a series, I don’t suppose it matters. It’s not as if anyone will leap into an ongoing series at that point. I know with many detective novels the order you read them in isn’t vital. For example, you could pick up a Miss Marple novel (Agatha Christie) and not need to know what’s happened in her past, but my series work differently.

Are there character developments in this book? Yes. If we think that when the series starts, Jack Merrit is coming to terms with being gay, and that path to self-understanding continues in books two, and starts to settle in book three. By book four, he’s secure and by book five, he and Larkin are ticking along like a married but not living together couple. In book six, he comes across that well-known issue of temptation, and we see how he deals with that. Meanwhile, we’ve also got Baxter. He started out as the hired stable hand and is now fast becoming a detective in his own right. He’s turned his back on his slutty past (or has he?), is now 20, still madly in lust with Jack, the ‘Boss,’ and still as chirpy as ever, but now, he has more to do. So, Bax is developing, Will is settling down and is more able to control his anxiety and OCD. The occupants of Delamere House have also changed slightly, as Dalston and Joe have left and Nes, Sparks, Simeon and Ronny have joined, and, in book six, even the horses are different (Shadow is still with us).

As well as all that going on in the background, we have the mystery to solve, and I should have it wrapped up by Monday, ready for a beta read, and, in the first week of December, do the final drafting.

So, that is where I am, here is a view of where I am and how the weather is.

I will be away for a week or so, but will be on Facebook, and will be back here in due course. There will be a December newsletter soon too, with links to more promos for new titles and authors, and I’ll leave you with this one, in case you haven’t already explored it.