Phew. I’m so relieved to have finally finished the manuscript of the first full-length Skye Lisbon Investigates novel, “False Step”. It turned out to be the second-longest book I’ve ever written, in any genre. Staying in that 80-85K word length will be the aim for other stories in the series.
It took longer to complete than I’d hoped (don’t they all!), but it’s done, dusted, and in the capable hands of my beta readers and wonderful ARC team. I know they’re a biased bunch, but it’s still lovely to receive those first impressions and reviews. I mean, what crime fiction author wouldn’t love to hear “Couldn’t put it down”, “Wow”, “Full of twists and turns”, and “Looking forward to the next one”?
The strategy going forward is unchanged: write three novels (number #2 already has a name – “False Witness”), get the manuscripts in as perfect a shape as I possibly can, then rapid release the books. Once three are out in the wild, I feel it will take the pressure off me to produce fast for eager readers. With three books in the can, I’ll be able to take my time with #4 and subsequent novels in the series. Since Skye Lisbon is a youngster at only 23 years old, there’s scope for a long career as a PI. One of my readers said he really appreciated the dog character, Darius. I’m glad about that: I would hate people to think I just put Darius in there to leverage the K9 trope. Not my intention, more of a side effect. However, I am a huge fan of dogs in general, so no one can accuse me of cynical exploitation. Well, maybe that can, it’s a free world after all.
Still slaving away in the ghost-writing gig. If Skye Lisbon Investigates takes off like I’m hoping it will, I’ll definitely cut back and perhaps even drop the other work. It’s probably stating the bleedin’ obvious, but publishing your own work is way more satisfying than someone else’s, even if you have to wait longer for the payoff.
