Another new book? Seriously?

I know. I know. It was only yesterday, surely, when my last book came out? (Actually, it was back in March in the UK, July in the US.)

Can it really be true that I’m about to unleash another novel on an unsuspecting world? Well, yes, it can. It is.

The book in question is called PSYCHOTOPIA and it’s due out on 31st October. (Available for pre-order now!)

Some people might say it’s greedy of me to have two books published in one year. (Though I did do it once before. Summon Up The Blood and The Mannequin House both came out in 2012.)

I have been accused of being prolific. This always feels like an insult to me, whether it’s intended to be or not. The implication seems to be ‘you can’t be any good if you’re that quick.’ I can’t help thinking of Barbara Cartland whenever I hear the word prolific. According to Wikipedia, she wrote 723 novels over a long career. I estimate she must have averaged about 10 books a year, although she left behind 160 unpublished novels, which would have taken that average up even more. She held the Guinness World Record for the most novels published in a single year.

But there are other examples of prolific authors. Georges Simenon published nearly 500 novels over a slightly shorter life span than Dame Barbara.

On a lesser scale, but still impressive, there’s the relatively little-known John Harris. I’m currently reading his Covenant With Death. It’s an extraordinary novel of the First World War (written in 1961, I think), which has been described as “a forgotten masterpiece”. It really is a fantastic book, an outstanding literary achievement. And yet according to his Wikipedia page, Harris wrote 73 novels under various names over a roughly 30 year career. That’s an incredible average of over two books a year. And if Covenant With Death is anything to go by, his writing is of a very high standard.

This will be my tenth published novel. My first came out 12 years ago, so I haven’t quite managed one a year over my career so far. But I have made double figures!