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Announcing The Dog Sitter Detective
I'm still amused that everyone is so 𤯠about me writing cosy crime, tbh
STAGE FRIGHT
In his newsletter this week, Kieron Gillen calls newsletters themselves āwriting in front of an audienceā⦠and suddenly I understand why Iām so bad at them š
When I pointed this out, Kieron explained āIt's how I justify my typos, as if I'm a garage band, playing drunk in a barā, but I think that speaks to part of the difference: if all I had to do was get on stage and drunkenly bang out some songs for you all, Iād be in your inbox every other day.
ANNOUNCING THE DOG SITTER DETECTIVE
SURPRISE!! š¶
The Dog Sitter Detective is my new cosy crime murder mystery series, starring retired actress Guinevere āGwinnyā Tuffel as she takes up dog sitting to make ends meet⦠and, naturally, stumbles across a murder or two š
My fabulous agent Sarah Such sold the series to Allison & Busby, whoāll begin publishing next year with The Dog Sitter Detective itself, followed by second book Death in Little Venice in 2024.
Hereās an article with more detail in The Bookseller:
I wrote The Dog Sitter Detective during the original Covid lockdown āĀ long-term followers know Iām a dog lover, to the extent that over the years many friends have joked I should write a book starring them. Well, during that first lockdown everything was rather depressing, not to mention that less than six months earlier weād lost our second dog in the space of a year. So I decided to cheer myself up by writing a light-hearted murder mystery featuring houndsā¦
ā¦And at the end of it realised I had something that other people might want to read āĀ especially dog lovers, of course, but also anyone looking for a book that could make them smile. Which is probably most of us, these days!
The Dog Sitter Detective world is filled with larger-than-life characters, twisty murder mysteries, a ādoggedā (sorry) heroine, pups both adorable and mischievous, and even a few laughs along the way. I hope youāll come to love Gwinny like I have šš
(PS nothing bad happens to the dogs!)
(PPS Yes, North American readers, youāll be able to get these books. I donāt have exact details yet, but you wonāt have to import anything like with the Brigitte Sharp books)
(PPPS Because people keep telling me my regular headshot makes me look like Iām about to kill someone, I had the new one above taken. It is without doubt the cosiest headshot of me that ever cosyād)
PATRIOS PIECES
Meanwhile, of course, The Patrios Network was released a couple of months ago, and as usual I wrote some articles to help promote the book.
At the Crime Readersā Association, I did a piece on the challenges of finding new obstacles to throw at Brigitte over a series of books:
At Crime Time, I lamented the difficulties of writing a thriller that relies on things like foreign travel and geopolitical status during this time of Covid-born upheaval:
https://www.crimetime.co.uk/spying-in-the-time-of-covid-antony-jonston-talks-to-crime-time/
At Shots Mag, I wrote about the rather depressing and distressing research I did into online neofascism and the rise of the radicalised right which features so heavily in The Patrios Network:
http://www.shotsmag.co.uk/feature_view.aspx?FEATURE_ID=513
And on a more technical level, I did a piece for Bang2Write on the difficulties of structuring a complex story like Patrios, and how I solved lots of big knotted plot problems:
https://bang2write.com/2022/10/3-steps-to-writing-a-complex-structure-in-your-story.html
THE ORGANISED⦠PODCASTER?
Speaking of solving writing problems, I was interviewed by Caroline Sanderson on the ALCS podcast Authorsā Matters about The Organised Writer: what it is, why I wrote it, and how it can help you take control of your workload and schedule. If youāre not already subscribed to the podcast, you can listen at:
https://alcs.buzzsprout.com/536413/11073947
I have to give HUGE credit to the production and editing team on this one. We had some major technical problems during the recording (all entirely my fault, LOL) but youād never know it from the finished episode. As someone who produces and edits podcasts myself, I know how much work that took.
A HOST OF REMIXES
Greg Mackintosh and Nick Holmes of Paradise Lost, one of my all-time favourite bands, have collaborated on an electro-throwback side project called HOST.
Last month they released the first single, Tomorrowās Sky, which is pretty great āĀ and uses a drum machine rather than PLās usual live drummer, making it very easy to bugger about with in an editor if you know what youāre doing š
So just for fun I made two remixes of the song, using nothing but the original track and some custom boops and bleeps of my own in Logic. Because Iām a contrary git I decided to do contrasting versions, so hereās the BANG mix:
And hereās its partner, the WHIMPER mix:
Both completely unofficial, of course! Enjoy š¤
THE LAND OF GIANT WOOLLY CREATURES
Iām still on Twitter, because so is everyone else, but also like everyone else* Iām exploring other outlets. To that end Iāve revived my Mastodon account (which I first opened in 2017, LOL) and you can find me at https://mastodon.social/@antonyjohnston
Iām also at Hive, but as of writing that service is still down. When/if it comes back up, you can find me there under the same username.
*I say āeveryone elseā, but itās kind of funny seeing how little effect EMās takeover has had on the UK book industryās use of Twitter. If thatās all you follow, youād never know anything was different.
ITāS CHRIIIIIIIISTMAAAAAAS
Well, close enough. This is my last newsletter of the year, so Iām calling it. And with Christmas comes⦠music for everyone to complain about š
As a Birmingham lad, Iām contractually obliged not to complain about Wizzard or Slade at this time of year. But I admit to being fairly ambivalent about both of those songs. So instead, let me introduce you to a song with which you may be less familiar: I Believe in Father Christmas, by Greg Lake.
I first heard this song when I was about 8 or 9 years old (my mother had the 7ā single) and itās been my favourite Christmas song ever since. The lyrics, the drama, the sentiment: yep, Iām on board with that all right.
I hope you all have the best holiday season you can, and letās do it once again in 2023ā¦
AND EYES FULL OF TINSEL AND FIRE:
https://twitter.com/AntonyJohnston
https://mastodon.social/@antonyjohnston
https://facebook.com/AntonyJohnston