I think I have a title for my book. I suppose you can see there's a theme if you've come into contact with my work before.
If all this is new to you, stick around, I'm writing up a storm at the moment and I'm happy to share the process.
First post
Again, Ash finds herself embroiled in a world of trouble - this time, she has backup that she can rely upon.
I wrote a scene involving Ash and a bad guy that seemed to want to keep himself out of my spotlight, but I'm delighted to say I found him and I can now write a story around him.
Ash and I have found a few other bad guys to deal with too and I'm concentrating on rounding-out their characters so the Readers can make up their own minds about them.
This story has been difficult to wrap my head around because of the complexities of drawing in the Readers, making Ash a believable and likeable character (although I doubt if she would care if you like her or not, the sassy bleeder!) and the situations in which she lands. When it all starts coming together, as it is now, it's so gratifying. I am around 30,000 words in to this story, with a little more than that left to go.
I'll leave you with a snippet of Ash's life.
Justin pinched the bridge of his nose. His eyebrows raised and to Ash, he looked suddenly tired.
“Go on,” he said. “Explain it to me like I’m five years old.”
Ash shifted in her seat and was about to start talking when she heard something outside. She sat upright in her chair. “You expecting someone?” she said.
Justin shook his head ‘no’ and listened too.
A shadow passed the side window where Justin used to sit. A split second later, a figure followed the shadow and passed the window.
Ash grinned and gave a little chuckle of relief. “Rob’s back!’ she said.
“Deflection again,” Justin muttered.
She scowled at him. “I may as well tell this once,” she said and waited for Rob to walk in through the door.
“Go on then, tell us both your good news and then you can tell me why you’ve shaved your head again,” Justin said, his voice as stern as it got with Ash.
“Why the fuck have you got a gremlin in your living room, Justin?” Rob said as he approached the table. He pulled out the chair next to Justin, placed a mug of tea on the table and tuned his attention to Ash. “You’re a fucking ugly looking lad, I’ll give you that.”
“I’m not,” Ash said. “If I was an ugly looking lad, I wouldn’t have had the job offer I just got, would I?’
Justin placed his sandwich on his plate. “What job offer? Who offered you a job, doing what? Where, when and what does it entail?”
“Calm down, it’s only a bit dodgy. I have protection, and it’s really good money,” Ash said. She sat down opposite Justin. She placed her hands on the table, fingers splayed out, thumbs almost touching. Her fingernails were bitten down and she realised they’d see, and they’d understand that she was a bit more anxious than she pretended to be.
Justin said nothing. He stared at Ash unflinchingly and Rob looked from one to the other, with growing concern.
“Explain the ‘only a bit dodgy’ part to me, would you?” Justin said in a voice so calm it made Rob worry.
“Don’t go all Police Officer interrogation on me, I know what I’m doing and it’s not as risky as some of the stuff you know I’ve pulled and got away with,” Ash said, leaning back in her chair, feigning nonchalance. She folded her arms and met Justin’s gaze.
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Justin said. “It doesn’t make me feel better.”
“OK, maybe I should have mentioned this before I agreed to it, but I didn’t see the harm. Mr Fitz-Stanley…”
And with that tempting little tid-bit, I'll leave you to figure out if you like what you've read, if you would read on - and more importantly, would you read the previous book, Ash and the Favour Man?
Comments, criticism, critique, advice and questions all welcome.