Today I catch up with three authors, William Ablan, Dawn Hosmer and Chris Beckett, who I previously interviewed on my blog to see what they’ve been up to. I hope you enjoy!
William Ablan
GJ: So how’s it been going since I interviewed you over a year ago?
WA: I’m selling books. Am I ready to quit my day job? Not yet, but at least I’m headed in the right direction. One of the things I’ve done is I pulled the book, and did some heavy rewrites on it. Since I’d written a very lengthy manuscript, I broke it down into three separate novels. The first retains the name THE CROSS AND THE BADGE. The second is called SWORD. It’s both a reference to Ephesians 6 and the sword of the spirit, as well as taking a bow to the Centurions of old. It should be out soon. The final is called THE JUDAS TREE, in reference to the tree Judas hung himself on for his betrayal of Christ. It will be a bit before we realise how deep that betrayal that happen in this book really is.
One of the cool things that happened is I was able to write several bridge chapters for each. The end result was I was able to set up characterisation better, gave more depth to events, and set up not only the first trilogy, but the “Family Secrets” series as well. incidentally, the first book is about to start being written.
I’ve also begun working on a few standalone novels and a collection of shorts, TALES FROM THE NCO CLUB.
One of the more interesting things I’ve worked on is to add a page to my WordPress site. I digitised most of the pictures I took from the Gulf war, and I’ve been working on a history of what we did and so on, and inter-spacing the pics through it. You can check it our here.
GJ: Have you learnt any new skills?
WA: Grammerly has become a great tool for doing what I do. And I’ve also begun using Hemingway. The Jury is still kind of out on it, mostly because I need two monitors. The way it works is you open something up in it, it goes through and looks for adverbs, and so on. It helps make your writing better, which it does. What I don’t like is if open up an almost done Word Doc in it and then save it back, it changes the format. So, what I do is copy and paste something into it, look at it’s suggestions, and then make the changes on the manuscript.
I’m also learning a lot from other writers, in particular CP Cox and Joy Kidney. I’ve learned to use “The economy of Words” from them. Why use three words when one will do?
I’m also back on the fringes of law Enforcement again. I work security with my church and work closely with the cops in the area as a result.
GJ: Thank you William, it’s great to hear you’re striving forward and have so much on the horizon. I recommend to anyone reading here that they check out William’s excellent post with his photos from Iraq.
You can check out THE LAWMAN: THE CROSS AND THE BADGE here.
Dawn Hosmer
When I originally interviewed Dawn she was working on the release of her fist novel, BITS & PIECES, a fast-paced, riveting Psychological Suspense with supernatural elements that leaves the reader guessing until the end.
Now Dawn had recently released her second novel THE END OF ECHOES and here’s a peak at the blurb.
Two families, forever linked by tragedy.
Ruby Dunkin is in an abusive marriage. Her best efforts aren’t enough to shield her two children from an abusive father whose cruelty knows no bounds. Their volatile situation ends in tragedy when Ruby’s eldest son, Billy is torn away from everything he loves. Consumed by hatred and self-loathing Billy becomes the thing he hates the most—his father.
Chelsea Wyatt, a senior in high school, goes missing after work one night, never to return. Her parents are devastated, only knowing this kind of tragedy from the news. Crimes like this are unheard of in their quiet, midwestern town. Consumed by the tragic fate of their friend, family member and neighbor, their lives and futures are forever altered.
For over eighteen years, no one knows the connection between Ruby Dunkin and Chelsea Wyatt. A journey through time reveals the common thread stitching their heartbreak together. Yesterday echoes throughout each character’s life as they decide how, and if, they will break the chains of the past.
Will they continue to leave a legacy of pain and loss for future generations? Will they break the cycles of abuse that have destroyed so many lives?
You can check out the book here.
Chris Beckett
I interviewed award winning author Chris Beckett back in November 2018, where we talked about his new novel AMERICA CITY, a book about politics and about the drivers that lie beneath our political preferences.
GJ: What have you been up to since we last spoke?
CB: My novel, BENEATH THE WORLD, A SEA came out in hardback (it’ll be out in paperback in February). I’m still working on that novel I told you about, with a contemporary setting in the post-Brexit era but narrated from the future. It’s proving to be one of the hardest tasks I’ve set myself and raises all kinds of problems and challenges for me as a writer but I’m slowly getting there I think! I have also become a grandfather, which is lovely.
GJ: Thanks Chris, congratulations on all fronts.
You can check out BENEATH THE WORLD, A SEA here and he’s the blurb.
South America, 1990. Ben Ronson, a British police officer, arrives in a mysterious forest to investigate a spate of killings of Duendes. These silent, vaguely humanoid creatures – with long limbs and black button eyes – have a strange psychic effect on people, unleashing the subconscious and exposing their innermost thoughts and fears.
Ben becomes fascinated by the Duendes, but the closer he gets, the more he begins to unravel, with terrifying results…
Beneath the World, A Sea is a tour de force of modern fiction – a deeply searching and unsettling novel about the human subconscious, and all that lies beneath.
Of course, since I last interviewed these guys I’ve been hard at work on producing a follow up to IN THE END and the second in the series releases on 8th November 2019. You can you take a look and pre-order here.
Before The End is the second and standalone book in the thrilling post-apocalyptic series In The End. If you like dark horror, fast-paced action, and bloodthirsty zombies, then you’ll love my high-stakes tale.
GJ Stevens 