How wonderful when the waiting was finally over, and I'd travelled across that interminable territory between submitting the manuscript of my latest novel to the publisher on November 17 last year, and holding the paperback in my hand a few days ago. For 14 months after writing the opening paragraph of my paranormal crime thriller, When God's Wind Blows - Hayley Hampshire lay dead on her drive, gunned down alongside her husband just a few seconds earlier. The echo of machine gun fire and the squeal of tyres rang through the air as the blacked-out BMW sped away along Clowes Road - until typing The End 138,929 words later, the story had been an all-consuming part of my life. Sometimes ten hours a day at the keyboard, sometimes just two hours, sometimes writing by hand while sitting in the sunshine during last year's wonderful summer, sometimes mentally unravelling plot issues while out on my walks through the local countryside, the book played an active role in my mind every single day. |
Then there was an empty hollow after I'd emailed it to my publisher - how I missed that previous ever-present entity in my life - as it passed through the hands of the editors and proofreaders to turn it into a saleable commodity. While that was being done, the cover designers were hard at work, because, despite the old saying 'you can't judge a book by its cover,' far too many people do, and an eye-catching cover and title are a vital part of getting an author's work into a reader's hand or onto their Kindle. Published by Dragon Moon Press, (Alberta, Canada), When God's Wind Blows is a paranormal crime thriller with a COVID backdrop, showing how grief and love affect one man's sanity. It's the sequel to my 2015 novel, In Shadows Waiting, and is set 38 and 39 years after the action in that story finishes. |
After a young couple are ruthlessly gunned down outside their home during the pandemic in 2021, the story takes us through middle-aged radio presenter Simon Reynolds. personal COVID nightmare, as he seeks answers about mysterious blackouts he's experienced since his sister's death at the hands of a supernatural entity back in 1982.
Paranormal events slowly intertwine Simon's Long-COVID journey, with the double murder, unveiling a plot to terrorise the entire world.