Rediscovering Sheridan and Blake - Falling in Love Again

The initial spark, that lit the tinder, that started a flame in my imagination, then caught and became the inferno that is The Sheridan And Blake Adventure Series was a 'what if?' moment...

That moment struck during a visit to the Varna Archaeological Museum where I saw a collection of finds unearthed accidentally in the 1970's by a construction crew. The artefacts were a cache of gold and grave offerings that, when carbon dated in 2004, turned out to be oldest worked gold in the world. Archaeological excavations of the site revealed a  Chalcolithic Age (commonly known as Copper Age) necropolis, a necropolis that changed our view of that transition from humans using stone tools to developing complex societies.

The 'what if' was:

"What if something ancient and powerful was unearthed by archaeologists? What would men do to get their hands on that ancient power? Who would they kill, and who would die to protect it?"

That became the premise for the series of books.

My protagonist is a female, Bristol based archaeologist, Dr Sasha Blake and the hero is an agent, Tom Sheridan, who works for a covert organisation that repatriates stolen antiquities from the black market, The Agency.

Together they embark on an international mission to find the Bronze Box, four rings that act as the keys to the box, and an ancient manuscript - its instruction manual.
  

It took four years to research, develop, plan and write the first book, The Bronze Box. I finally published it in 2013. The rest of the books were already in my head, I always knew it would be a series of books, the complex web of intrigue and conspiracy I weave into the books needs four books to unravel! It was just a case of making a plan, having a routine and sticking to it so I could write and publish the rest of the series over the course of the next three years.

To culminate this seven-year project, I'm about to publish a 4 in 1 bumper eBook Boxset. All four Sheridan and Blake books in one eBook. Instead of buying 4 separate books, you'll be able to buy the whole lot in one book and binge-read it. 

This is what it will look like:

The book includes:

• The Bronze Box
• Solomon's Secrets
• Gabriels Game - Part 1, The White Queen
• Gabriels Game - Part 2, The Black Knight

• As well as more about me, my journey and inspiration for the books in an author summary.

Adding all the books together into one book this week, I'm going through the stories again, making small changes to ensure consistency in formatting etc. and naturally, I can't help but tweak bits of it too!

I've been immersing myself in the world of Sheridan and Blake and enjoying the experience all over again. Falling in love once more with my characters and their story!

I've also come across more spine-tingling quotes. Here's a few:

The Bumper eBook Box Set is coming soon...


I hosted a webinar recently 'Meet the Author' - here's the recording. In it I share more about my journey into writing, my process and inspiration. Packed with insights for curious readers and tips for budding writers:






 

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Conquering Creative Constipation

There's always some sense of being repressed, deep in your forever-questioning brain when you are a creative.

I say 'a creative' like we're a species unto ourselves. 

I believe that all humans are naturally, innately creative - you just have to spend a couple of minutes watching small children play as they make sense of the world as proof of this.

I wrote a blog on this 'You're More Creative than You Think' last year and I also blogged on 20 Ways to Keep The Creative Juices Flowing.

When I say 'a creative' I mean people who identify themselves as creative and who perhaps make a living doing something conspicuously creative: visual arts, music, sculpture, design, photography, writing etc. These are the things people usually associate with 'creativity' and will say "I'm not creative" because these forms of self-expression don't resonate.

Perhaps your creativity is in the kitchen? Or in finding ways to entertain your children? Or building complex spreadsheets to solve a problem? Essentially, creativity is how 'problem solving' manifests itself. Any by-product or solution that you 'create' to overcome an obstacle is a form of creativity.

My creativity comes at me from many places. I go through peaks and troughs in the way I express myself. 

Having published The Sheridan and Blake books in such quick succession - 4 books in 3 years - I've struggled to get back to creative writing.

I've had the concept for my next novel - a new series of books - floating around in my head since I first met 'Katarina Orlov' defending Tom and Sasha from an assassin at a tube station when I wrote 'Gabriel's Game, Part 1: The White Queen'.

I knew then that the sassy, bi-sexual, multilingual, freelance finder and single mum with the black cat tattoo on her back - Kat - would be my next star!

I decided to designate August as my month to bash out the first draft of that book 'Finding The Scream' and blogged about it HERE.

Here's the blurb for the latest book (I managed to extract that from myself last week!):

Alas, my month of writing wasn't to be, when a flurry of bookings and jobs landed in my inbox and screeched from my voicemail. 

I couldn't even manage the two tips I offer to anyone facing a similar dilemma:

1) Build writing into your routine

2) Bum in chair, write!


I call this inability to conjure the muse 'Creative Constipation' - the discomfort and frustration of being blocked up!

Last week I had a breakthrough. I did two of the things on my list of 20  ways to get those creative juices flowing:

no. 14) Hang out with creative people

no. 18) Do something you've never done before


I went to a 'Boost Your Natural Confidence' event hosted by the lovely Hils Crisp and I went to a 'Creativity Circles' event hosted by the wonderful Mags MacKean as part of Bristol Festival of Literature.

Hils' event took us through some techniques to discover our confidence triggers. 

I was heartened by how open the other people in the group were, considering we were complete strangers, we all shared our confidence challenges openly and it was great to see that we all recongnised so many of them. I came away feeling invincible!

The next morning I took out my free writing notebook and let the ideas pour from me. 

Later in the day I went to Mags' event, already feeling rejuvenated, the creativity circle provoked a surprisingly emotional reaction.

Now, just to get one thing straight, I'm pretty cynical about anything that's too 'hippy-dippy' - the kind of mumbo-jumbo that makes my eyes roll because there is always a danger that if you are too open minded, your brain might just fall out! 

On the face of it, what I'm about to share may seem to contradict that. However, I've known Mags for many years, I like and respect her so, although I wasn't sure what to expect, I trust in Mags' approach. 

There was plenty of closed-eyes deep-breathing. There were stones to pass our doubts and fears into. Then we went looking for our tree - something solid, something we could imagine, something we could go back to, something that could embody our creativity.

I had a vivid image of my tree. It was enormous, broad, I could only just span my arms across it, heavy with fruit.

Without really realising what was happening, I shed tears of relief at finding and knowing the tree, a voice in the back of my brain whispering: "I see you!"

As the tears settled in the hollow of my throat, I imagined them seeping into the pounded earth and nourishing the roots of the tree. My tree. Laden with fruits of soft, juicy peach and crisp, zingy apples. I bite down on the resistant globe of an apple and feel the satisfaction of that crunch between my teeth. My apple, from my magic 'Papple tree'.Well, I guess there's no doubt in my mind now how powerful our imaginations can be!





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