Announcing: THE FLOOD

Oh my gosh, I have been waiting to shout about this for so long. I am literally giddy with excitement to announce the impending publication of THE FLOOD, coming this September from Avon:

A gripping, atmospheric crime novel about a town on the edge of collapse, and a murder that shakes the community. Perfect for fans of THE DRY.

When Daniela Cain returns to her small hometown after seven years’ absence, she finds that flooding has left the village all but deserted. She’s there to collect something she left in her childhood home, then she plans to leave. But upon entering the old house she discovers her younger sister’s body half-submerged in the water.

As Daniela tries to work out what happened to Auryn, she uncovers dark secrets from her childhood as one of four sisters in the household, when the Cains and another local family begin to turn on each other with devastating results.

Anyone who knows me IRL may recognise this book under its working title, FOURTH TO THE DEVIL, aka That Sodding Book I've Been Working On For The Last Five Hundred Years. It's crazy to think it's actually going to be a real book and not just a jumble of files on my computer.

You can check it out on Goodreads or PRE-ORDER THE EBOOK FOR ONLY 99p at Amazon, or of course contact your local independent bookshop for more details of the paperback (which is due for release in November, I believe).

I am going to be shouting about this for days. Y'all may want earplugs.

As usual at this time of year, imma look back over my spreadsheet for the last twelve months and provide a short breakdown of what I've been reading and why, mostly for my own amusement:

Sooooo, in 2018 I read a total of 103 books (including graphic novels but not including books I read to my son), which is the exact same number as in 2017, conveniently. Like 2017, the majority of the books were Young Adult (18 books) but that's a really sharp drop from last year, when about half the books I read were YA. Non-fiction clocked in at the next highest (16) and literary fiction surprising me with 15. I've upped my game with reading more sci-fi (11) and crime/thrillers (13), and I've had to add a separate category for feminist dystopia (4) because it's apparently a new feature of my reading pile.

Disregarding co-authored books, about 60% of what I read was written by women.

Approximately one third of the books I read were by authors I'd previously read. Which means a respectable two-thirds were from authors I'd never checked out before. From those two-thirds, the highest number (13) were chosen at random from the library. Others were recommended to me either in person or online (or by a very enthusiastic librarian), or I picked them up because they were authored by our amazingly talented local author community, or they were being discussed at our book group (hence the rise in feminist dystopian fiction). I made an extra effort to read books I considered as "classics", including three from pre-1900 (the most I've managed in any year since high school).

I'm making an effort to read ebooks (in quiet moments when I'd otherwise be trawling twitter) but I've still not renewed my dalliance with audiobooks. I've also joined Netgalley, just in case I don't have enough books.

My book resolutions this year are to read more crime/thriller, since it looks like it's my area of interest now (oh, yeah, I have news to share in a later blogpost, check back for that), and to avoid bringing more books into my house unless I have an exit strategy in place for them (because hoarding).

2018 top booky picks

It's been surprisingly difficult to pick my top books of the year for 2018, because there's been such a wodge of very fine reading material, even though none of my Big 5 Authors (the ones I shall defend unto death) have released new books this year. Having said that, my definite favourite book of the year is:

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet - Becky Chambers
And I know this is a cheat, because it came out a few years ago, but the second sequel (Record of a Spaceborn Few, following A Closed and Common Orbit) came out this year so it totally counts, shut up. It's a marvellous trilogy - gentle and thoughtful and clever and often hilarious and occasionally heartbreaking, like all the very best sci-fi. My only criticism would be if you're looking for a fast-paced, plot-based romp, this might not be for you. But if you love spending time with characters then you'll heart this.

In no particular order, this is what else floated my boat this year:

Fir - Sharon Gosling
Came across this by accident in the library and it scared my pants off. Tight and claustrophobic and a lot more unnerving than you'd expect from its innocuous YA tag.

Call of the Curlew - Elizabeth Brooks
Our Elizabeth! So very, very proud of her and this marvellous time-slippy gothicky drama. Cannot wait for her next one.

Keep You Safe / Love You Gone - Rona Halsall
And our Rona too! In an apparent attempt to make the rest of us look sloth-like, Rona had not one but two amazing books published in 2018. Both are taut, fast-paced, twisty-turney thrillers, although if I had to pick a favourite I'd probably say I enjoyed Love You Gone the best. But they're both well worth your time.

Folk - Zoe Gilbert
Retelling of a bunch of folk tales, expertly capturing the dreamlike tone and feel. I'm really looking forward to reading this for a second time.

Paperbacks from Hell - Grady Hendrix
There's nothing quite so delightful as finding someone who shares your enthusiasm for a particular subject, especially if the subject is pulpy horror novel covers. I've bought three copies of this book so far this year (one for myself, two for presents) and am considering buying a fourth so I have a lending copy.

Force of Nature / The Lost Man - Jane Harper
OH MY GOD. I have a new favourite author. No, I haven't read The Dry yet (I got it for a Christmas present so it's next on my list) but based on these, her second and third books, Jane Harper is someone I'm going to talk about a LOT from now all. Her books are full of family secrets and sneaky motivations and the weather as an almost physical presence on the page. Glorious.

And a quick round up of other good things I read this year: I joined a book group, which directly resulted in me reading a lot more feminist dystopia than usual. Particular favourites were The Power by Naomi Alderman; Feminists Don't Wear Pink (And Other Lies); Circe by Madeline Miller; and Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge. Next year I might vote that we read something less weighty, however. :)

I finally read Northanger Abbey, and Middlemarch, and A Christmas Carol. No one can say I didn't. And I found out why EVERYONE raves about We Have Always Lived in the Castle (it's great, that's why).

2016 - end o year stats

So. What've we been up to in 2016?

However you look at it, it's been a heck of a year, but I'm going to ignore all the important stuff for now and go with my usual yearly round-up of how much I've written in the past 12 months, because that's something I feel relatively positive about and because I have some nice solid statistics to fall back on, rather than my own shouty opinions.

(I'm not posting all this to boast, btw. I just like stats, and I like being able to take stock of what I've done in a year. Also I hope it'll show that everyone's output is different, we all work at different speeds, we all have different definitions of what is a fair amount of work, and no one should ever make themselves (or anyone else) feel bad for doing more or less than the next guy.)

In total, I wrote 414,204 words, which equates to approximately 1131 words a day average. To compare, in 2015, I wrote 359,224 words (about 984 words a day average).

These totals include everything - first drafts, rewriting, editing, blog posts, competition entries... anything I can claim with a straight face as creative writing. I also included drawing as writing (using the vague definition that a finished picture is worth a thousand words).

Breaking this down into positives:

I wrote the first drafts of two new stories, one of which is now my favourite thing I've written.
I edited two other novels to close-enough-to-finished level.
I polished TERROR ISLAND and released it as an ebook.
I filled up two notebooks with notes, ideas, and random crap.
I wrote every day, even if it was just a couple of sentences (although there were a couple of close calls).
I read 91 books.

And into negatives:

I didn't get as much drawing done as I wanted. Maybe only two or three days included any drawing.
I didn't blog very much.
I didn't crit as many stories for other people as I should've. In fact, I still have three crits outstanding, which is very poor behaviour on my part.
I still don't reply to my emails in a timely fashion.

But in general, I'm happy with my output for the year. I feel like I've done okay. I really hope everyone else feels they've done okay too, despite this horrid year, and achieved something they can be content with.

I'm going to do a separate post about the books I've read, because I'm sure you're anxious to see my stats about those too. :)

Happy 2017, peeps. Stay safe out there.

the return of TERROR ISLAND

Aha, forgot to mention. TERROR ISLAND, my very first novel, is out now in ebook:

Here it is for Kindle in the UK

And here for Kindle in the US

Alternatively, if you would like a nice shiny FREE ebook version (in whichever format tickles your fancy), then why not sign up to the Rakie Keig mailing list?

Email terror_island_novel(at)hotmail(dot)com with the title SUBSCRIBE

And our email monkeys will do the rest (disclaimer: there are no monkeys, it's only me and my stubby-fingered typing skills).

HOME GROUND available FREE on Kindle this weekend

Wow, there're a lot of capital letters in that title.

To coincide with Manx Litfest 2015, my ebook HOME GROUND will be available to download for free between Thursday 24th September and Sunday 27th September 2015 inclusive:

On Amazon.co.uk

On Amazon.com

If you like zombies, history, horror, and getting something for free, please do check it out.

It's here!

Delighted to announce that HOME GROUND is now available in ebook!

On Amazon.co.uk

On Amazon.com

HOME GROUND ebook edition

Good news everybody!

My third novel, HOME GROUND, is getting an ebook release! I'll post the link as soon as I get the thumbs-up from the publishers, but for now, if you would like a sneak preview the first three chapters are available to view here.