A Dry Spell?

Despite the beautiful blossoms in the hedgerows and gardens, a lot of plants have bloomed earlier and appear to have lasted a shorter time. The Hawthorn hedges and even the humble buttercup and dandelion have gone to seed more quickly than in previous years and certainly the buttercups are shorter. Is it because they have focussed on seed production, rather than waste valuable and scare rainfall on growth? So far this spring in England has been the driest since records began and with higher temperatures and more hours of sunshine than the seasonal average.

But writers can have a dry spell too.

For some, it might be after the book launch, during the final editing or actually holding the book in your hands or seeing the image online. For others, the act of writing the last words and closing the file is enough to trigger thoughts of ‘Wow.’ Perhaps followed by ‘What’s next?’ and uncertainty. This period of time might last a few seconds, hours, weeks… but what if it continues for months or even longer?

I know some fellow writers simply sit down and force themselves to write, regardless of quality or content. They are confident some thing will emerge from the ramble. For me, it used to be about returning to the huge number of short stories I wrote early on and have not done anything with, except enter a few competitions from time to time. Some were the results of prompts in writers groups or on courses.

Not for me…or at least, not for the moment.

The first of a trilogy of murder mystery novels featuring a detective sergeant who would rather be doing something else and has imposter syndrome was published on 30th April 2025. It will be followed by two more, already written, but not yet finalised. And I’ve promised a further three more to make it into a series of six books. Having established the key characters and the setting, does make the task easier. However, one task remains for each book; who will be murdered and why.

To read a sample, click on the link below.