20 June 2023!

After more delays than anyone would like, this is finally happening! 20 June 2023, four weeks from today, will see the North American release of Unnatural Ends. What this means for you, if you’ve pre-ordered any physical copies, is that you should CHECK and UPDATE YOUR MAILING ADDRESS. It has been a while, after all, and if you’ve moved in the meantime (as I have) you don’t want the thing you’ve paid good money for to be sent off to the wrong place.

You may have noticed that I specified North American release up there. This is because we’re also getting a UK release a month later, in July. (I think this means that those of you in the UK will have the satisfaction of getting your ordered copies in before Waterstones.) Inkshares is breaking into the UK market, and guess what they’re using as a battering ram?

That’s right. That’s me on the cover of the issue of The Bookseller distributed on the second day of the London Book Fair last month. The other guy is Fulton Ross, author of The Unforgiven Dead, which you should definitely check out because it’s a darn good read.

We’re just counting down the days now!

We have progress, ladies and gentlemen! Cat’s Paw has always been only a working title, one I’ve wanted to change for well over a year now. And we’ve come to a decision: the book formerly known as Cat’s Paw will be published as Unnatural Ends ... a far better title, mainly because it does not conjure up pictures of cute kittens when you run it through Google.

Which also means these updates will need a new header:

If you head over to Amazon, you’ll find we also have a cover, though my understanding is that this is not final. The cover artist is still working on something much better. Still, having even a placeholder cover brings home the idea that this is really happening after all. I’m sure that, given the time this has taken some of you must have begun to give up, or cease to believe ... I know there was a sense of unreality about the whole process for me as well, towards the end.

Meanwhile, the proofs have come and gone. I heard mention of printing at the beginning of the next month, though I’m assuming that’s about the Advanced Reader copies for reviews and the like before the actual release. As I said: we have progress.

Happy Canada Day, everyone. 2019 is half over, and there’ve been a number of developments since my last update.

First of all, I’m pleased to report that A Gentleman’s Murder won the silver for Mystery in the 2018 Foreword Indies. This makes a neat little hat trick for Inkshares, with Jacqui Castle’s The Seclusion and Juliet McDaniel’s Mr. and Mrs. American Pie also winning silver in their respective categories.

A German edition of A Gentleman’s Murder is also in the works and set to come out in December this year.

Some long-overdue paperwork was finally completed with respect to the option for the TV rights, so I think I can more comfortably say now that that’s in the works, too.

The most significant update I have to share, however, is that I have since relocated from Montreal to Calgary, a move that takes me to the other side of the continent. I’m writing this from what should be my study for the foreseeable future, once the movers deliver all my stuff.

It’s a new life. Perhaps there will be Bovril.

Until next time!

The 100th anniversary of anything happens only once, ever, and never again; and today was the 100th anniversary of Armistice, the end of the First World War. Here in Montreal, the event was marked by a ceremony at Place du Canada.

The haze you see is drifting smoke from the artillery guns, fired periodically as punctuation to the ceremony.

To all the veterans out there: Thank you for your service.

I’m not dead yet.

Dear friends and followers, I have been getting back into the groove of active campaigning. I try to keep accurate records, in case things should happen to go wrong ... it also helps to alert me to friends who have promised an order but who may have forgotten. Do not worry: I shall hunt you down.... Er. I mean, I shall send you a gentle reminder. Yes.

(Seriously though. I really appreciate everything I’ve gotten from you guys so far. Some of you have been hugely encouraging and enormously helpful. In many ways, this will be as much your victory as mine.)

Meanwhile! I’ve finally managed (after many, many takes) to record a video for the project page. Go take a look!

What to expect from me in the near future:

1. A third Peterkin Investigates IF game.
2. A floor plan for the Veterans’ Club.
3. A gentle reminder.

Now, let’s talk about a couple of works around here that I would really like to see getting further on their campaigns.

1) "Upload", Mark Meredith. I’ve spoken about this before, but it bears repeating: this is some quality noir happening here, for all it’s classed "science fiction". The Thriller Night Syndicate seems to agree, since they’ve named it this month’s pick. It tells the story of Detective Qin (look, an Asian hero! Not that I’m biased or anything!) in a world where people habitually clone themselves to guard against unexpected death. Well, here’s Qin in a newly cloned body, and the story opens in gritty, noir fashion on a crime scene where it’s discovered that the vic is ... Qin’s previous body. Seriously, if you love mysteries (and if you’re following "Murder at the Veterans’ Club", then chances are that you do) you’re going to love this one.

2) "The Fairy Stepmother, Inc.", Maggie Hoyt. This is a very different flavour, but delicious all the same. It’s Cinderella told from the stepmother’s point of view ... though I suspect there will be a number of twists thrown in. Evelyn, the stepmother in question, is introduced as an intelligent, independent woman, who has to deal with some rather rigid societal expectations; and it’s all told with some delightfully wry humour. Check it out: I promise you the prose will just race along like a drive through the countryside.

Until next week, friends! In the meantime ... don’t forget!