I hope you’re all well and enjoying life. June. What the actual hell! Really?! I apologise for my absence recently. What would Vinny say? Usually, with Vinny, it’s one of my childhood sayings. So, here’s a blast from my past.

“Soz about it.”

The truth is, I’ve been ‘proper-busy’ working on the screenplay – more about that in a mo.

Before I dive in, I wanted to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who’s been in touch over the last few months. I don’t always reply (I can be a bit rubbish like that) but I do read all my messages and they mean a lot. Your support is the reason I’m still in the writing game. I really do appreciate it ; )

Right. To business.

THE SCREENPLAY

As most of you know, I was approached by a film director last year who LOVED the books and wanted And Then She Vanished to be her next project. After some discussion we agreed I would be involved in the script and have been learning fast, on the job. It’s been tough, hugely enjoyable and very time-consuming, but it’s coming together now. I’m busy working on the 2nd draft. The writer’s strike in the U.S. means no-one is pitching anything at the moment and that has brought us a little more – much needed – time. The plan is get it finished in the next couple of months. A good film would do wonders for book sales, so I’m crossing everything there. Feel free to cross along : )

BOOK 5

The planning is coming together in the background. Writing will commence as soon as the screenplay is done. I cannot wait to get started and continue Joe’s adventure. I know it’s frustrating to have to wait. I wish things were different, I wish I was faster, but I’ve never written a book in a hurry. It’s just the way I do it.

My passion for writing has never waned, but I do write from the heart and when Blackstone said they didn’t want to carry on with the series… honestly? My heart was a bit broken. It’s taken me a while to decide that I’m going to carry on anyway. I’m going to be releasing book 5, independently. Back to how I started. An Indie Author.

Many of you have asked how you could help, have come up with ideas of how I could increase my readership and income. I’m working with an author friend of mine on how to include you all more in the process and build-up, including some ways you can purchase cool stuff directly from me, which all helps keep the wheels moving. More on that as I have it.

That’s it for now. Just wanted to say hi and give you a brief update.

Drop me a note, say hi and who knows, I might do another FB Live thingy again soon to talk about the script and our plans there. Let me know if that sounds like something you would like me to do

Nick

I hope everyone is doing OK after the crazy year it’s been.

This year has been full-on in so many ways. For me, lockdown life hasn’t been all that different to my usual acts of solitude. Most authors are part-time hermits anyway – you have to be, to get a book done. My partner and I both work from home anyway, and we consider ourselves very fortunate that we haven’t been badly affected by the economic situation in the UK and so many other countries.Still, it didn’t take long for me to really start missing people. Thank goodness for the internet. Not only amazing content to keep us entertained, but a lifeline to friends and family, yoga and learning. I hope you’ve found your own way of coping with the weirdness.Christmas is going to be very quiet this year. Honestly, I’m OK with that. Sometimes I feel we focus on the wrong things at this time of year, overeating, over-drinking and over-buying. I’m actually looking forward to a peaceful few days at home, reflecting on this year and making plans for 2021… which is promising to be an exciting one.

Publishing news

As some of you might know, my Joseph Bridgeman series has been bought by Blackstone Publishing. This is why all my books have currently disappeared from Amazon and Audible – we’ve cleared the decks, ready for some exciting launches in 2021.

As I’ve shifted from being an indie (self-published) author to a published one, a few things have changed.

The first is that all my books are now going through an intensive editing and proofing process. I’ve always worked hard on the quality of my books, but working with Jason, my editor, has been an incredible experience and really taken things up a notch. I’ve learned a bucketload. And the books have got better too.

The second is that the series will now be available at all the major marketplaces, not just Amazon. So you’ll also be able to buy them from Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, etc.

Third, the books will all be launching in hardback as well as paperback, which is super-exciting, and a first for me. They’ll be re-launching in audio too, with a fantastic new voice-over artist… but more of that nearer the time.

The Unexpected Gift of Joseph Bridgeman … or ‘Book 1’ as it’s affectionately known in my house, has had an overhaul, and I couldn’t be happier with the new version.

It’s got a new title, too: And Then She Vanished. It’s launching on 2 February 2021, so only a few weeks to go now.

The core story’s the same, but this new edition has brand new chapters and deeper character development to enhance Joe’s journeys into the past. There’s more Vinny, more Amy and more plot.

Here’s the new cover. I think it’s perfect. I hope you like it!

AND THEN SHE VANISHED – 2 February 2021

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I’ve been rubbish at communicating with you all this year. Sorry, and thanks to all the lovely people who got in touch to check my heart’s still beating. But that all changes from now on. I’m going to be sending out regular emails again, and I’m also going to start posting updates in my new Facebook group. So, if Facebook is a place you like to hang out, join the group and I’ll see you there!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/nickjonesauthor

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My favourite books, TV, films and albums of 2020

As a story-teller, I’ve learned how important it is to keep my creative inkwell topped-up. Input creates output. Here are some of my favourite things this year.

TV

The Queen’s Gambit Netflix are probably as surprised as I am that this worked. I read somewhere it’s their most streamed show or something. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s like Rocky but with nerds and chessboards. Like the sheep I am, I immediately downloaded a chess app and started to re-learn the game. Apparently, millions of people have done the same. 🐑 Baaaaaaaa.

Mindhunter In ‘The Silence of the Lambs’, Clarice Starling was part of the Behavioural Science Unit. Mindhunter is the (dramatised real-life) story of how that unit was created. They coined the phrase ‘serial killer’. David Fincher does an outstanding job of avoiding the obvious violence and instead, escorting us into the cell of the convicted killers for a chat, and getting right inside their heads. The characters are complex and credible, the plot is tightly woven, and each episode is packed with drama and micro-tension. There are 2 seasons currently available. When asked about writing a third, Fincher said he didn’t know if he was ready “to spend another two years in the crawl space.” I can see why it was such an intense and lengthy process for him. The quality of the writing speaks for itself. I’m utterly hooked. This is about as good as it gets. Which leads me to…

The Mandalorian Some episodes are glorious examples of the kind of Star Wars T.V. I always wished for. Character-driven storytelling that knows what it’s doing. And then, some episodes are weak, nonsensical drivel. I can’t think of any other show that is this patchy. Come on, Disney. Stop with these ‘monster of the week’ episodes and focus on the core story, the writing. Give us characters with reasons for their actions, and goals that make sense.

Hamilton (Disney+ only at the moment) An inspired example of pure creative freedom. The songs are soooooo good. I have to ration it because I become obsessive about learning and reciting all the lyrics. And considering they packed more lyrics into this that any other stage show, that’s a losing game. Try it. I recommend, ‘Guns and Ships’. Particularly the lines… “No one has more resilience, or matches my practical, tactical, brilliance!”

Film

Knives Out A detective investigates the death of the patriarch of an eccentric, combative family. How could the same writer/director, the one who (IMHO) utterly DESTROYED Star Wars with the abomination that was ‘The Last Jedi’, create this masterpiece of modern, ‘whodunnit’ cinema? Rian, I forgive you for what you did to Luke. Nearly.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Maybe you think animation superhero stuff isn’t your thing. Just watch it. It looks amazing and the unexpected and extremely creative story really nails it. Genuinely one of the best super-hero movies I’ve ever seen.

Fight Club (throwback). After watching Mindhunter, I thought this was worth a revisit. An example of two heads are definitely better than one. Chuck Palahniuk wrote a powerhouse of a novel, David Fincher understood it and created a film to rival the book. I love them both, the book and the movie. How often can you say that? It feel as relevant now – perhaps even more so – than it did on release. Consumerism gone mad. Identity in question. Brad Pitt cemented his leading man credentials. Ed Norton knocked it out of the park. And that reveal… (I won’t spoil it in case you haven’t seen it yet, but WATCH IT for heaven’s sake.) Sheesh madeesh! as Vinny would say.

Books / Audio

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. A total wild card. I thought it was time to stretch my vocabulary and try something different. Loved it! Beautifully written. Evocative and transportive.

For We Are Many, by Dennis E. Taylor. Book 2 in the Bobiverse series is great fun and on audio, Ray Porter just nails it. Yes it’s nerdy, yes there are so many Bobs I kind of lost track but Dennis handles the massive concept with a steady hand and a wry smile. Sci-fi rarely feels this welcoming. Highly recommended.

The Guardians, by John Grisham. He is still writing amazing books, like a good wine etc. Life-affirming, law, order and determination. Decent people trying to make a difference. It reminded me there is always hope if we fight for what is right.

Albums

Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia. Dua Lipa crept up on me and this album solidifies her place on the pop podium with the likes of Madonna and Michael Jackson. Seriously, when it comes to brilliantly produced dance-floor classics, she owns it. Brash, confident and non-stop. She has created her first masterpiece at the age of 24. I’m excited to see where this scarily competent artist goes next.

Michael Kiwanuka – Kiwanuka. I’ve liked most of his stuff, but this album is on another level. It evokes so many feelings and spans (for me anyway) such diverse influences as Marvin Gaye, all the way to Radiohead. Michael said he wanted to create an album that felt like a dream. It could have been a nightmare. It’s isn’t though, it’s heaven.

Rayland Baxter – Feathers and Fishhooks. Not released this year, but discovered by me in 2020. If this was on cassette (look it up kids) it would be worn out. He locked himself in a rubber band factory and didn’t come out until this was done. Respect. I love it.

Haim – Women in Music Pt. III. Like Michael K, I kind of liked their stuff. This one though is packed with wonderful, catchy, sun-soaked drifty tunes that sound effortless. Such a good collection of songs by a band that have found new confidence by not caring too much. There is space in the arrangements, a relaxed airiness that we all need at the moment. (Parental Advisory Rating: Occasionally Naughty)

Rina Sawayama – Sawayama. An absolutely bonkers, 90’s inspired love letter to the decade that shaped her. You can hear the influences, and it shouldn’t work, and yet it totally does. If you need a reminder that music is a canvas that’s always waiting for a new artist, this is it. (Parental Advisory Rating: Potty Mouth)And, that’s it from me. It’s been a challenging year for sure. I hope you have a restorative break and that next year is a healing and happy one for you.

Hot off the press

For those who are new here, a quick bit of history. I began my writing life as an independently published author. I had a day job and although writing was my passion (and secret dream job) I didn’t want to put pressure on myself to make money. I just wanted to write and put my stuff out there, for better or worse.

Then, Blackstone Publishing (one of the largest independent audiobook publishers in the United States) got in touch and bought the Joseph Bridgeman series.

Since then, things have been somewhat manic… in a good way. You know how sometimes, in order to move forward you have to go back a few steps? Yeah. That’s been my life for the last year or so.

Joseph Bridgeman book 3 was well underway when my publisher suggested editing books 1 and 2 before re-releasing them. It wasn’t easy to go back – kind of like my own form of time travel – but I embraced it as a chance to learn, improve as an author and gain new skills. What an amazing process (baptism of fire!) and also an incredible opportunity to hone my craft. The core stories remain intact, but with the help of my wonderful editor, Jason Kirk, they’ve been scrutinised, refined and improved at every level. I’m currently working on the final draft of Book 2 and will then, later this year, be finally turning my attention back to book 3, which is set in Paris, 1873, around a mysterious opera house fire…

I’m really proud of the updated books, and I can’t wait to see what happens when they get sent back out into the world. My hope is that all of this hard work will give the series the best chance of wider success. I love writing about Joe’s adventures and just want as many people as possible to read and enjoy them. Simple really.

Release schedule

Books 1, 2 and 3 are scheduled to be released next year. The updated version of book 1 should be out in February, if all goes to plan, with a new title, a new cover and a new audiobook too! Book 2 should follow next autumn sometime.

I know for some of you the wait for book 3 has been stupidly, comically long. I can only apologise and hope that such a long gap between releases won’t happen again. I’m going to see if there’s a way I can ‘gift’ my reader group the new versions of books 1 and 2. Fingers crossed. It would mean a lot to me to be able to share the new versions with you, the readers who have supported me along the way. I will keep you posted.

Other Stuff

Digital content has taken on a whole new level of importance during lockdown. Here’s some of the best I’ve found.

Yin yoga, via Zoom – I have the usual author physical challenges of spending too much time at the keyboard. Yoga helps a lot. I miss the human interaction of the actual class, but Zoom has been a life-saver!

Film

Films are my biggest passion and for me, the perfect way to refill my creative inkwell. I can’t list them all, we’d be here for a week, but here are some of the stand-out movies I’ve seen over the past few months.

Knives Out – A detective investigates the death of the patriarch of an eccentric, combative family. HOW could the same writer/director, the one who utterly destroyed Star Wars with the abomination that was ‘The Last Jedi’, create this masterpiece of modern, “who done it” cinema? Rian, I forgive you for what you did to Luke. Nearly.

La Belle Époque – A couple in crisis. Victor, disillusioned, is given the chance to plunge back in time via an elaborate historical reenactment. He takes the opportunity to revisit the moment when he first met Marianne, in hopes of rekindling his love for her. Highly recommended, romantic little gem. It’s French, so I needed subtitles, but the story was so engaging I barely noticed.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – Maybe you think animation superhero stuff isn’t your thing. Just watch it. It looks amazing and the unexpected and extremely creative story really nails it. Genuinely one of the best super-hero movies I’ve ever seen.

Jojo Rabbit – Watched the trailer, read the premise and was, like, what? Seriously?! But it’s genius. Pure genius.

The Peanut Butter Falcon – Shia LaBeouf does a road-trip (on a river). An adventure story reminiscent of a modern Mark Twain that begins when Zak (22), a young man with Down syndrome, runs away from the nursing home where he lives, to chase his dream of becoming a professional wrestler. An interesting, feel good movie with a great soundtrack too.

TV

Dave – TV series that stars a fictionalised version of ‘Lil Dicky’, a suburban neurotic man in his late twenties who has convinced himself that he’s destined to be one of the best rappers of all time. Along with Fleabag, Mandalorian and Knives Out this is the one I am telling EVERYONE to watch. I even managed to get a shout-out on a popular national radio show here in the UK last week to spread the word, so hopefully that drummed up a few thousand more viewers. I’ve watched the whole series twice now and on repeat viewing, it just gets better. This is how you do character. This is how you lure people into caring. Hilarious, real, honest, heartfelt. Dave has it all. Fair warning, it is VERY rude in places. Not for the easily offended!

Modern Love – Amazon Original romantic comedy anthology, based on a weekly column published by The New York Times. They drop the ball on a couple of episodes but still recommended for the ones they get VERY right.

The Mandalorian – As good as I hoped. Baby Yoda rocks! Watched the whole series x 2, like Dave. Might do another sitting before Season 2 is released. Yep, I’m hooked.

Books

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. ‘Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever.’ ANYTHING by Matt goes immediately to my Kindle. Very excited about this one.

Audio

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. A total wild-card. I thought it was time to stretch my vocabulary a little and try something different. Enjoying this one. Beautifully written. Evocative and transportive.

Playing

All other games have been crushed like tin cans in a black hole beneath the weight of Elite Dangerous. The entire galaxy is there, waiting to be explored. It’s been out for years (I actually backed it during the Kickstarter campaign) but now seemed like a good time to dive in. It is ‘grindy’ (if that’s a word) and at times almost boring, but for some reason I love it. It scratches my itch to disappear into the void, to boldly go where no man has been before etc. It’s like a second job. I actually have a to-do list in Evernote!

Anyway, that’s it for now. I hope you are staying safe and sane in what has been the maddest year I can remember.

For some reason, I thought it was a good idea to knock the hell out of my house at the same time as writing a book. Two tonnes of rubble, a load of supportive steel and a new kitchen later, every surface of the house is covered in a thin layer of dust. It’s going to take months to clean up!

This weekend we are going to decamp from our makeshift kitchen (eight weeks of garden cooking is enough) and move back in. Yay!

With all the building work going on, I frequented numerous cafés and coffee shops across Gloucestershire. I’m on first-name terms with most of them now! As long as I keep buying coffee they don’t seem to mind me sitting there with headphones on, furiously tapping the keys.

Joseph Bridgeman Book 3

I’m writing the next two Joseph Bridgeman books back-to-back and all of the planning is paying off. The new book is taking shape, the ending is coming together nicely and I can’t wait to share it with you! I’m currently working with my publisher on new titles and covers for the series too. I couldn’t be happier, they look stunning. A soon as I can, I will share them with you. It’s super exciting for these books to get another push from my publisher. Also, they will get a significant push on audio, which is becoming one of my favourite ways to consume books these days.

Audio

I’m listening to “The Institute,” by Stephen King. So far, it’s amazing — as expected. It’s no surprise that it’s creepy with dark undertones but, as always contains realistic characters and a surprising amount of hope and optimism. Okay, so Steve is letting rip on the establishment in his novels now – not just on Twitter – but I forgive him because he’s awesome.

Books

I’m finishing-off World War Z. I know it’s an oldie but it’s a hell of a goodie as well. Such a great concept; writing a retrospective, interview-style book on the earth-changing war with the undead. Fascinating stuff, well researched and expertly handled. From what I’ve heard the film bears almost no resemblance, so don’t bother.

I’m also reading “Checking Out” by Nick Spalding. Great concept, funny, with some mild, dark humour, which is right up my street. It’s also great input for Joe.

My partner, Kay, speaks numerous languages but sometimes finds there isn’t enough room for all of them at once. If we’re going to visit a country she will often listen, read and practice the language before we go. She describes it as loading the language in. I think it’s the same with writing, I like to read a good balance of things, particularly novels that will help get me back into Joe’s tone of voice, back into his world. Checking out is checking in.

Films

As some of you know, we have a film club with friends, where we try to introduce each other to interesting, slightly left-field movies. Recently watched The Big Lebowski and am now addicted to White Russians. What can I say, the Dude abides.

White Russian – 1 part Vodka, 1 part Kahlua, 1 part cream. All major food groups are covered.

Also, Kay and I recently watched a film called ‘Her’, starring Joaquin Phoenix. Highly recommended. A lonely man falling in love with his operating system. Sound weird? It is. But, it’s also really well handled and an interesting study on relationships, loneliness and our need for connection. It probably helps that Scarlett Johansson’s voice is easy to fall in love with!

Trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzV6mXIOVl4

I’m desperate to see ‘Joker’. It’s already a success and I almost feel sorry for all those movie executives who are currently trying to figure out how to spin it out into numerous franchise films and Batman cross-overs. Top tip guys: just leave it there.

Interesting aside: Joaquin changed his surname from Bottom to Phoenix. Apparently, you pronounce his first name Whackin. For all my U.S. friends, bottom means butt. So, I can see why he changed it!

Call me a glutton for punishment but I’m excited about ‘The Mandalorian’. A Star Wars TV show with a decent budget and a gritty, in-the-trenches approach? I’m in. Mainly because Rian Johnson is nowhere near it, so there’s hope. It’s weird. Rian’s new film, ‘Knives Out’ is supposed to be very good. Just keep him away from Star Wars I reckon.

That’s it for now, I hope life is treating you well. As always, thanks to everyone who gets in touch, I’m knee-deep in writing so apologise in advance if I don’t always get back to you. I do read every email and it means a lot that you take the time to write.

Here’s a random quote from the new book. “When you love someone, that feeling isn’t given to you by them. Feeling loved comes from within. Love is an output, do you understand?”

Sending good vibes,

Nick

P.s. Back to the decorating!