Researching Book Three

Another day in paradise. Or lockdown hell, whichever way you wish to look at it. I woke up to more five star reviews for ‘Skelly’s Square’ on Amazon. The USA and UK are now tied at 56 five star reviews each. These mean so much to me as they bolster my ever fragile confidence. They comfort me that I can write and encourage me to persevere with my dream of becoming a full time author. Every review is cherished and appreciated. None of them are taken for granted.

While ‘Skelly’s Square’ continues to be read, the sequel, ‘A New Jerusalem,’ is currently being edited by my publishers, Potters Grove Press, with a view to an autumn 2020 release. I’m very excited to be working with River Dixon and his team and can’t wait for the continuing adventures of Kirkwood, Meredith and Harley to be released onto an unsuspecting world. I believe it to be a better book and I’ve improved as a writer, but I’ll let the readers be the judge of that.

Which brings me to the as yet untitled Book 3. I’ve now started researching it, making the most of this enforced break from my 9-5 job. As you can see from the image accompanying this post, I’m knee deep in the Battle of Waterloo, which features across the ‘Kirkwood Scott’ series. I probably spend more time making the 1815 chapters as accurate as possible than I do on the rest of the story. It’s bloody, brutal and ultimately heart breaking; but it has to be right.

The lockdown is being gradually eased in Northern Ireland. We are now allowed to meet outdoors in groups of 4-6 people, as long as social distancing guidelines are maintained. Garden centres and recycling centres have reopened as have churches for the purpose of private prayer. Small steps in the right direction. I am hopeful we have turned a corner. Until then I will continue to read and write. Thank you to those of you who have read and reviewed the book.