So, November 19th is publication day for The Other Mother, book two in my Peasedale Woods Killers series, and I am SO excited!

I read and listened to a lot of authors talk about how difficult book two is, after the high of publishing a debut novel, having to get to grips with penning another eighty odd thousand words.

Well, lovely reader, I had a BALL. I already knew what The Other Mother was going to be about, how the story was going to play out, and where my protagonist, Suzannah, was headed…and it wasn’t anywhere fun! 

Suzannah was a subsidiary character in my first book, The Other Boy, the mother of an accomplice, a woman in denial who was keeping A LOT of secrets. Following the aftermath of her son’s involvement with a serial killer, she is unable to move forwards in her life and find happiness because of the incarceration of her son and the shame and stain of his hideous crimes.

Suzannah’s story is about her constant battle with the truth and the havoc it will wreak on her life if it comes out. She is a woman whose lies pile up until she is at breaking point, forced to make dangerous, calculating choices that threaten everything she is trying to build with her new fiancé.

I flew through the first draft of this novel, so I was surprised when my beta reader gently expressed her concerns about the entire second half of the book. Wow! But, without feedback how do I know if what I am writing is any good, right? So, I took a deep breath and went back to my manuscript.

What I discovered was SO much better than my first attempt. I had underestimated Suzannah and failed to see a dark, resilient side to her which took the second half of the book to another level. I also created a backstory that brought the whole novel together. 

My second reader was my partner. He is not a big reader, the holiday reader type. He devoured my book in two days. Holy moly! He was so desperate to see how Suzannah’s lies would play out, and get to the truth, that he couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. 

Second novel, second attempt, second reader. See how those 2’s are playing out for me. The work, of course, didn’t stop there, but I was having so much fun with this story that the momentum kept me racing through to the finish, full of energy and enthusiasm. 

I have two more books to write in this series, The Other Killer, which is with my editor, and The Other Brother, which is underway.

I have recently finished reading John Marrs Keep It In The Family. At 43% in I had worked it out, the whodunnit part, and I had a small slump because I thought I knew where it was going. I was right, and wrong, and I loved that. The layering. There was more to come, and it is exactly this kind of unfolding that happens in The Other Mother. Just when you think Suzannah has finally caved and told the truth, something else veers the reader off track.

I was asked a question recently about which authors I would like to go on a writing retreat with and it made me think about the elements I like to see in a good book and which writers do those things well. This is my wish list of great book elements that I hope you will find in The Other Mother: twists, heart, relationships, grit, depth and cunning. 

I always listen to fun music when I workout, to lift my mood at the start of my day. This morning it was Body Rock by Maria Vidal. Go dance wildly in your kitchen and have a great day.