Today marks the start of a four-day heatwave here in the UK.
36 degrees Celsius today.
35 tomorrow.
34 the day after.
Then it tapers off towards the weekend.
Now, I know for some of you — particularly those down under or sweating it out in certain states of America — this might seem like a whole lot of nothing.
But that whole lot of nothing is…
A whole lot of something to those of us living fairly far up in the northern hemisphere.
No doubt the media will be preaching global warming as the culprit and pretend the blistering UK heatwave of 1976 never happened (not that I was alive to witness it, thank God).
What can I say?
The mainstream news channels are a predictable beast and will always seize any opportunity to further their agenda.
Anyway, I'm tiptoeing dangerously close to violating my “NO POLITICS” rule here, so let's steer this puppy back to its crate.
Just expect some sweat in your inbox over the next few days as I continue to hammer these emails out in what can only be described as hellfire.
Lady Laura is already applying an ice pack to my back with Master Liam and Master Nathan pointing handheld fans at my face.
We are, as a household, doing our best.
WE APOLOGISE FOR INTERRUPTING THIS HIGHLY ENGROSSING BROADCAST WITH THE FOLLOWING PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:
My editor predicts they will have the draft of Book 6 back to me this coming Friday.
Then I shall review whatever monstrosities await me over the weekend.
Audio production begins in earnest the following week, provided everything goes swell.
Which means, lords and ladies…
The sequel is just around the corner.
In the meantime, if you want something other than The Divided Region to chew on, I once wrote a supernatural thriller series called The Curse of Abbey Ruins.
I've always had a morbid fascination with the woods, for no reason other than they probably have a slew of crazy stories that would put most world-weary men and women to shame.
Yet, sadly, trees have no lips to speak them.
Except in this particular story…
While the bark doesn't talk, the characters (both living and dead) certainly do.
Fair warning, though:
This is some of my earliest, most formative writing.
So if you're expecting Shakespearean prose destined to win literary awards, you will be sorely disappointed.
But if you want a fun, fast, and chilling read to devour while you wait for Book 6 of The Divided Region?
You can bag the duology here in e-book:
https://djjwatsonstore.com/products/COAR
DJJW