Fallen Angel- another update

Edits all done and dusted for my latest book- Fallen Angel- being published by the wonderful folks over at Post Mortem Press. This one is quite a bit different from my usual work, really looking forward to seeing what people think. Due for release January 15th.
More details to come...

Here's a blurb from the publisher-
"Fallen Angel demonstrates our continued efforts to broaden the audience for our books. One part Dan Brown, one part William Peter Blatty, one part James Patterson - John McCuaig's Fallen Angel will entertain mystery, suspense, and supernatural thriller readers alike."

Fallen Angel- an update

I've been in contact with the publisher who is looking at my new novel "Fallen Angel". They said they liked it a lot but had a few issues to discuss before they took the decision to publish it or not.

Can't go into many details of those discussions or even the name of the publisher at this time but I think it went well and I've been promised a final decision by the end of the month.

Fingers crossed and of course I'll update you all when I hear.

Pyramid of the Dead- an update

Due to the unfortunate situation over at Twisted Library Press (formally Library of the Living Dead Press) I've had the rights to this novel given back to me. It is two years since it was accepted and with no end in sight I asked for it back, the publisher- Doctor Pus was as usual the perfect gentleman and offered me best wishes for the future. This is a shame and I really hope that things get back to normal soon over at the Twisted Library, they have been great to me over the years and in fact published my very first story.

A publisher has requested to see the book, after seeing the sample chapters on my website, and I'm going to give it another run through first before sending it off. Watch this space for updates.

MetaHorde- Proofed version is here

We've been delivered the proofed copy of the collab novel I've done with Sean Page- Meta-Horde will soon be here! We're really taking our time going through it to double check everything and trying our best to make it as good as we can. The chaps at Severed Press have done a great job and I'm sooooo looking forward to seeing this in print.

The mock up of the cover has also arrived and apart from a couple of minor changes we're delighted with what has been produced. Apologies but we can't show you a sneak peek until the finished version is done and the publisher gives us the okay.

Meta-Horde- off at the publisher

The zombie novel that Sean Page and I wrote together is now all polished up and off at the publisher being read right now. There's a slightly different take to normal zombie story, set many years after the outbreak people are beginning to rebuild some semblance of society. Living in medieval walled cities their defences seem to be holding until the undead start to swarm together in unimaginable numbers. As the cities start to fall in their wake a plan is hatched to save what's left of humanity.

I've really enjoyed working with Sean and I'm very proud of what we have created. With a bit of luck it'll be accepted and I'd love to see what other people think of our little creation. I'll update the blog when we get some word back from the publisher.

Attempting a trilogy!

I must be mad, I'm attempting to write a trilogy- all three books at roughly the same time. They involve Maggie and Lucas as they fight evil around the world, Lucas is a priest belonging to a secret order and Maggie is a cop who he encounters in the first book.

The status and working title of each book is-

Fallen Angel- set in London and first draft complete. An evil angel returns to earth to seek her vengeance.

Rise of the Valkyrie- set in Edinburgh and outline done along with the first few chapters. Demons who feed on the dead are travelling backwards and forwards in time, increasing their powers as they await the final battle.


Flesh Hunters- set in Venice, outline done only. Investigating a series of bloody murders Maggie and Lucas discover that werewolves are real and their numbers are growing.

Some updates

Its been a while so here are some updates on my ongoing projects

Fallen Angel- First draft is at last complete and I'm now going through it again and doing the usual adding some bits and chopping some others. Hopefully in a couple of weeks it will be ready for some beta readers.
The first two chapters (unedited) are up on my website, please go and have a look- http://www.johnmccuaig.com

Meta Horde- This collab novel with Sean Page is now away at one of Sean's friends having a bit of an edit and a tidy up. Once that's done we'll decide what to do with it next. Really looking forward to seeing the finished product- I've got high hopes for this one.

Pyramid of the Dead- My Inca/Zombie novel, still waiting to hear from the editor at my publishers, Library of the Living Dead Press, hopefully it wont be too much longer but it does seem to be dragging on a bit.

Last Train to Dover- My zombie novel set in real time- I've had some great feedback from beta readers (and not all good thankfully) but I've put this on the back burner for a few weeks. I want to go back to it with fresh eyes as it may help with some of the issues.

Short stories- only got one in the works at the moment. A disaster anthology where I was asked to fill one of the slots. That reminds me- I need to get that finished!!

Fallen Angel- update

Just a little update on my new project. I've changed the title slightly, dropping Daemon and just calling it Fallen Angel. Also I've basically chucked away the first outline and at least a few thousand words! Its now taken a different approach apart from the two main characters who I've kept. It's about a fallen angel, Lilith, and her plans to take over the world to get her long awaited revenge. A cop, Maggie McGuire and a priest, Father Michael Bowers fight to stop her. The full outline is done and most of the chapters have been started in a least a small way, but as usual I'm sure it will change quite a bit as things go on. I'll post some more updates but I'm hopeful that the first draft will be done by the end of July.

Meta-Horde Update

Just a little update on the collab novel I'm doing with Sean Page. We've knocked around a few ideas and I've done a very rough 1st draft of the novel. Its only 51k as it still needs a few things added/taken away/changed but it feels like its a pretty good start. Its off with Sean now to have a look at so it'll be interesting to see what he says. Really enjoying the experience so far so fingers crossed that one day it will see the light of day.
More updates to come.

My new project

I've started doing a collaboration novel with Sean T Page, author of The Official Zombie Handbook and founder of The Ministry of Zombies.

http://www.amazon.com/Official-Zombie-Handbook-Ministry-Zombies/dp/0980799619/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_2
http://www.ministryofzombies.com/

Don't want to go into too many details at the moment but the book will be set in the already established "Ministry of Zombies" universe. The title of the book is Meta-horde and its coming along very nicely at the moment. The outline has been done, and changed a few times. The word count is about 20k so far and ticking along pretty well. Its been a pleasure working with Sean and we both have high hopes for this project.

I'll post a few more updates as things progress.

A little update

I suppose to help myself as well I've knocked up this little update as to what I'm upto at the moment.

Novels-

Pyramid of the Dead- accepted by the LotLD- just waiting for the editor to get in touch.

The Last Train to Dover- now completed, I've been lucky enough to get 3 beta readers to give it the once over before it goes into the next editing stage. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they think.

I've also started my next novel-
Daemon:Fallen Angel
Which is nothing to do with zombies! This is a supernatural thriller/horror and the outline is just about done. More details to come.

Some possible big news coming up- I can't say much yet but having discussions with a British writer/publisher about doing a collab novel set in an already well established zombie "world". I'm really excited about this but don't want to jinx it until its all been agreed- hopefully watch this space.
If this goes ahead it will no doubt go ahead of Daemon:Fallen Angel

Shorts-

Still doing a few and waiting to hear from about half a dozen. The great news is an acceptance from Wild Wolf Publishing for a little story called The Last Trip. This is about two teenagers away on the last holiday with their father before they get too old. But when the zombies attack it might be their last in more ways than one. There are some great authors in this one already, I'll update a bit more when the list comes out.

Speak to you soon.

The Last Train to Dover- Update #2

Got to the 40,000 mark tonight and still going strong I think or at the very least hope. Going a bit back and forth doing a few edits as I go along and I have introduced a couple of new characters towards the end. I'm also thinking a lot about a follow up to this book which got me thinking that I haven't done a short story for about five months! That was my first love so once this is completed that will be two novels in a row so I'll be giving them a break until next year. So short stories only for the next few months, I think the rest will do me good.

The Last Train to Dover- Update #1

Just hit the 30,000 mark this evening, very pleased with how things are turning out. So far we've had the outbreak hit the hospital, our 4 heroes racing through London keeping away from both the army and the undead, boarding the train and meeting a mysterious professor before getting onto the deserted boat. All of the chapters have been started to some extent with a couple completed apart from final edits. I'm hopeful of getting it finished by the middle of next month. I'll do another update in a week or so.

New project- The Last Train to Dover

I've just started another novel!
This is called The Last Train to Dover, its a zombie tale about the start of the outbreak. When it all kicks off in London one final train is set off to Dover to meet up with a ship to take them over the sea to France. This train is full of VIPs but the main characters of the story manage to smuggle themselves on board.
Its basically a real time story of the first day of the outbreak and the race to get away before its too late. Its the first time that I've tried to do a novel around one day, it'll sure be interesting to see how it goes :-)
The outline and character backgrounds are done and the first few words are down on paper.
I'll keep you updated on how things are going.

Pyramid of the Dead- 50,000 mark

After a good few days break from writing doing some D.I.Y I've at last managed to reach the 50,000 point in my second novel- Pyramid of the Dead. The story itself is now basically complete but there's still a fair bit of fleshing out to be done. The only problem is that its going to be a fairly short book, I suspect that it will barely reach the 60,000 mark by the time its finished. I'm a bit disappointed in that figure but feel its the natural size for the story.

Overall I'm happy with the story, it feels like the characters are good and interact with each other well. However I may be slightly biased in my views! I'm really looking forward to hearing what some other people think of it.

Still not decided on the final title yet but I'm sure that will come.

Pyramid of the Dead- Yet another update

Hit the 40,000 mark this morning. A little bit behind on my target but I'm still very happy at the way things are going. I went back and done a lot of edits of early chapters as when I was trying to write some new stuff it was playing on my mind. This is not the text book way of doing things but I suppose whatever works best for the individual should be the right thing to do.

So the story so far- first quarter of the book seems about right apart from a full edit by someone else, second quarter still needs a little work but is pretty close and the last half has some chapters done in first draft and a couple that are only a paragraph long.

I'm still hoping to get it finished by mid July but it's probably going to be closer to the end of the month.

I'll update again when I hit the 50,000 and who knows I may even have decided on a title by then.

Pyramid of the Dead- Another update

Just hit the 30,000 mark tonight. It should really be a bit more by now but I've been going back over some of the previous chapters as I've been moving along.

It also looks like the final total as it stands may be as low as 45-50,000 which I believe is a little too short. As I go over the story board/plan I don't want to just pad out what I've wrote so far so I'm looking at adding another story arc to the proceedings. This will add another chapter or two plus give me some more meat to add to the already written or planned work. I would like it to be about 60-70,000 when complete.

I just need to be careful that it doesn't come across as just tacked on to build up the count and that it does something for the story. I'll keep on updating as I go along and let you know how this works out.

p.s I still haven't decided on a title!

Pyramid of the Dead- Update

Managed to hit the 20,000 word mark. Should be a little further on but I've changed a couple of things. This is the first time I've used a full outline chapter by chapter and I must admit I've found it a little restricting. Its better now that I've realised that its not a problem to change it as I go along. I'm still hoping to have it finished by mid July.

I've posted the first chapter/prologue on my website if you want to have a look. Please be aware its only the first draft and is very rough but hopefully you'll get a good idea what it'll be like.

www.johnmccuaig.com

Letters From The Dead Cover

Here's the fantastic cover for the forthcoming anthology from Library of the Living Dead Press- Letters from the Dead. Have a good look at all the detail on the cover- Dan has outdone himself this time. This book contains a collection of the last letters written by people trapped during the zombie uprising. My story is called "The Last Tin" which tells a mans tale of how he and his companions fought over the last tin of food.

Starting on my second novel

Now that The Church is pretty much completed apart from the covers I've started on my second novel.

Set in the 16th century Inca Empire its another view of how only a couple of hundred Conquistadors could defeat the most powerful empire on the planet.

It's a tale of greed, witchcraft, fear, and armies risen from hell.

The outline has been done and I'm up to about 7,000 words so far. I'll post some updates as this number rises.

The working title at the moment is Pyramid of the Dead but this will definitely change by the time its finished.