I am delighted to say I have finished my second book A Level of Consciousness which should be available in all the usual on-line e-publishing platforms in the week starting November the 18th if all goes to plan. (Just awaiting final editing and ISBN Number from the New Zealand National Library)
So, what’s it about? Well, first a confession, I really did want this new book to be a romance novel, and that is how it started. Technically it still is a romance novel, and which is why I am going to keep the sweet, girl-friendly click-bait cover image for the eBook, even if it only portrays one nice little lighter moment of an otherwise slightly darker book!
But normal romantic tropes, even the supposedly exciting ones, tend to be a bit lame and a bit predictable, which is why I found myself wanting a bit more of an “out-of-the-box” plot which would surround the girl, boy, lovey-dovey parts. Unfortunately, that was when it morphed into something a little more sinister!
So, the new book is technically a romance with a much darker premise, a ‘dark romance’ maybe? But ‘dark romance’ is actually a genre, one which this book does not fit, so what we have here is I am terming a ‘slightly darker romance’ as it covers topics not normally explored in romantic novels such as terrorism, mind-reading, Nazi occult practices, mythical monsters and secret criminal societies bent on world domination. The writing also goes much more into graphic detail on the gory parts and uses a bit fruitier language than the previous book. Because of this, the book will get a 13+ rating and probably won’t want to be read by the normal readers of the romance genre!
Finally, an apology. The heroine is yet another young woman, though quite a different one from my other book (The Summer of Reasoning). But don’t stereotype me just yet! The reason for this is that for the last ten years I have been writing various scenes, and what-if scenarios, and had literally hundreds of them with young heroines. Rather than waste them, I used one set of women in my last book, and the other set in this one. However, the premise of the next book (still mostly in my head) will be different still as I have now run out of strong female characters.
Unlike the previous book, which was much too big for a printed version, this new book comes in at just 110,000 words which is more the length of a normal paperback thriller, and so is suitable for a real printed version. The printed book will also require some much better artwork than the eBook so, if dead-trees are your preferred option, it will most likely not be ready until closer to 2025.
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