Tag Archive | Christie

Club Aegis news – progress on No Going Back, and more

May16

I haven’t posted an update on the Club Aegis series since the end of March, so I thought I’d better bring you up to speed.

No Going Back is with my beta readers. Once I have feedback from them, and taken any appropriate action, it’ll be going to my editor, who can’t wait to read it. Once the editing process is complete, I’ll format it and get it ready on Amazon.

Which leads to the next question—which book do I write next? As I was writing No Going Back, I was convinced the next in the series would be Soul Lost, but the last read-through suggested I should start Shattered Secrets.

Shattered Secrets would make more sense. While the romance is resolved in No Going Back—it is a romance, after all—the suspense element of it is only resolved in Shattered Secrets.

So, I guess the order is now going to be Shattered Secrets, followed by Soul Lost, and then Love, Honour And Surrender, which will be the 9th and final book in the series.

And what comes after that? I honestly don’t know, but one thing’s certain—I have no shortage of ideas! So please, if you’re enjoying the Club Aegis series, stick around for the ride, because once we arrive at that destination, we’ll be setting off for somewhere new! You’ll find updates here, and on Facebook and Twitter.

Finally, if you’ve already been along for the ride, I hope you’ve enjoyed the journey so far, and a massive thank you for your support. It means a lot.

 

 

 

No Going Back (Club Aegis #6) – Update

Mar31

So, the first draft of No Going Back is complete. I’m now reading through it to make sure it’s got all the right plot points in the right order—the pitfalls of writing out of sequence!

The main male character in this story is Sir Guy Somerton. Guy’s made other appearances in the series, but in No Going Back, he takes centre stage. He’s spent more than a decade alone, since losing the love of his life in a fire—a situation he doesn’t expect to change, until he meets Madeleine Scott.

When I originally conceived the character of Sir Guy, he was only going to be a minor character—a pompous senior civil servant, and a distinct contrast to his niece, Ros, who had been an officer in the Royal Military Police. Then, as is so often the case with my characters, he knocked on the door to my imagination and told me he could be so much more. That was when he transformed into a former Army officer whose past included a stint on secondment to the Intelligence services, and who became the commanding officer of an elite Government security unit.

Like everyone, Guy has a past. So what happened in his past that means he’s alone now? Why doesn’t he date? What are his secrets? Guy has taught me a valuable lesson, that the throwaway line in one book in a series can be a pointer to the enigma of another character.

And, once a supporting character doesn’t mean always a supporting character.

I shall leave you to consider the last comment above, because Sir Guy isn’t the only one of the Club Aegis family to whom it might apply. If you want to know who I’m talking about… well, you’ll have to read No Going Back to find out…

Club Aegis, and what comes next…

Mar4

If you’re a regular reader of my infrequent posts—and if you are, thank you very much—then you’ll know that I’m currently working on the sixth book in my Club Aegis series. The cover art is already done for that one, but because I can’t resist the temptation to see what work of art she’ll come up with next, I’ve already asked my wonderful cover artist, Syneca Featherstone, to work on the seventh. You can see more of her wonderful work on her website here.

And that got me thinking. Only books eight and nine remain in my plans for the series, and that’s quite a daunting prospect. Although I’ve written two short novels that aren’t a part of the series, my writing life has revolved around Club Aegis for most of the last five years. When I first wrote The Velvet Ribbon, I had no idea it would lead to a series, much less a series of nine stories, and in some ways, I don’t want to move on—the characters are almost like family—but the time is coming when I will have to leave them to their own devices. They will probably pop up in a spin-off series of four books featuring Lucy’s brothers from Winter’s Fire, but as yet, her siblings have yet to let me in on their stories, so that means bidding a temporary farewell to the club and its members.

So where to next? I have so many other stories planned and/or started, and in different romance sub-genres as well. I wish there were more hours in the day, then I could get these stories out of my head and onto the page, so I can share them with you.

When that time comes, I hope you’ll come on the new journey with me, and enjoy reading those stories as much as you’ve enjoyed the Club Aegis series so far.

Club Aegis – A Progress Report

Feb3

With the recent publication of Winter’s Fire, I thought I’d take this opportunity to let everyone know how the next book in the series, No Going Back, is… er, going!

Word count is currently almost 53k. At this stage, I can’t be sure what the finished count will be, but my current estimate is between 80k and 90k, so much in keeping with the main body of Club Aegis stories. The epilogue is already written, due to the nature of how I write, which tends to be in chunks that may or may not be consecutive. The epilogue ends with a hook into another story in the series.

And therein lies my dilemma—another series book is calling to me to write it after No Going Back. I’ve already introduced the main male character in Winter’s Fire, with the main female character earning a mention in No Going Back—depending on how the story unfolds, she may or may not put in an appearance.

So my question is, do I start the book that’s talking to me next, or the one the epilogue of No Going Back will be pointing to? I want to give you the best reading experience I can, and I don’t want to short-change you by writing a book I’m not yet ready to write, when there’s another in the same series that’s desperate to make itself known to me.

Perhaps this will change by the time No Going Back is done, but it’s very much up in the air at present. However it turns out, please bear with me, because the stories will be written—just not necessarily in the most obvious order!

Paperbacks, Book Covers and Next In Series

Jan1

2018 is fast approaching, so I thought I’d just post a little note to wish you all a very Happy New Year, and to let you know about my plans for the Club Aegis series during the coming year.

The first thing is, I’ve recently retired the paperback versions of the series. This is because my cover artist, the amazingly talented Syneca Featherstone, will be redesigning all the series covers to date to match the style of Winter’s Fire. The changes have come about due to various advertising policies, which frown on nudity, even of the male variety. So it’s goodbye to all those impressive naked male chests, and hello to a new look.

The new paperback covers will also be reflected on the ebooks, and once the new covers are up, I shall be asking Amazon to push the new versions out to existing readers. Hopefully, Amazon will cooperate.

Which leads me to the final item – the next in series. Club Aegis #6 is called No Going Back, and it’s Sir Guy’s story. Sir Guy Somerton was never meant to be a prominent figure in the series. When I first dreamed him up as a minor supporting character, he was going to be Ros’ uncle, and that was it. However, as stories developed, so did Sir Guy, evolving into a former Army officer in charge of the elite unit for which Ros worked, and still a man of action in his fifties.

When I wrote the first book in the series, The Velvet Ribbon, I had no idea it would even lead to a series. And I never imagined one of my heroes would be a bearded silver fox!

So, plans for 2018. I don’t write full-time, much though I would like to, so my writing schedule is subject to the vagaries of the day job. Unless something happens to affect my plans, I’m hoping to get No Going Back published during 2018, and if that goes well, I’d also like to get book #7 out as well. I don’t have a title for that one yet, so I’m hoping inspiration will strike soon.

That’s about it for now. Big Ben is striking midnight, so Happy New Year, and I hope it’s a good one for you.

Merry Christmas

Dec25

It’s the early hours of Christmas Day, but before I head for bed after a late night, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a happy and healthy 2018.

Have a wonderful festive season with your families and friends!

I used to be indecisive…

Dec22

…Now I’m not so sure.

I know, it’s an old joke, but it’s about the right standard for my sense of humour.

So, if dithering were an Olympic event, I’d win gold every time.

You may be aware I’ve just published my first (and last) book for the year, and I’ve been trying to work out what to do for the best regarding where I sell it. Since January, all my other books have been exclusive to Amazon.

While sales and page reads haven’t been amazing (I’m not well-known, and my relationship with marketing/promo is a whole other issue), what I have seen with the latter is what I assume to be someone discovering the first book in the Club Aegis series, then going on to binge-read the rest of the series. It’s either that, or multiple readers have timed reading the series in order with awe-inspiring precision.

Page reads are how authors in Kindle Unlimited (KU) are paid, and the funds come from subscribers, who can access books at no additional cost as part of their Amazon Prime subscription. It may be that that’s the only way they can afford to read, and the thing is, there may be readers out there who’ve read the series so far, but who won’t be able to access Winter’s Fire because it’s not part of KU, and to my mind, that’s not fair.

So, I’ve made the decision to delist Winter’s Fire from Apple, so that on Christmas Day, when the enrolment of my other books in KU ends, I can re-enrol all five books in the series simultaneously. Until then, the price of Winter’s Fire will remain at 99c/99p, but it will be going up to $3.99/£2.99 when it goes into KU, in line with the other books of similar length in the series.

So, I apologise to any readers who haven’t been able to purchase the book through Apple. For now, though, if you install the Kindle app on your iPad/iPhone, you can still read my books, and if you also happen to be an Amazon Prime subscriber, you can read them at no further cost.

At present, being exclusive to Amazon appears to be the best option for where I am in my writing career, but if all goes well, that may well change in the future. Thank you for understanding.