I can’t believe Christmas has come round again so soon; the time when I spend more time writing Christmas cards (and the accompanying letters to friends I only manage to catch up with once a year) than I do writing crime fiction.

Much of the month has been taken up with things that make it difficult to concentrate on writing – I’ve had a horrible infection in one of my teeth which has resulted in a lot of pain, root canal work and the consumption of some particularly nasty antibiotics which bear a dire warning that under no circumstances must you consume any alcohol (it makes you violently ill apparently). This means no drinks over the Christmas period and for a crime writer – we’re known as a convivial bunch – this isn’t good. In fact I can feel my inner Scrooge emerging already! However, I’ll try and fix a smile to my (swollen) face at the festivities as I sip my alcohol free wine and plot some nice cheerful (purely fictional) murders...I think Agatha Christie killed off a dentist in One Two Buckle my Shoe, didn’t she?

A good piece of news is that my editor loved The Boy who lived with the Dead and his changes won’t prove very daunting. That’s something I’ll tackle in the New Year, along with constructing Wesley Peterson’s next case, and I must say I’m looking forward to it.

A lot of people have said that The Mermaid’s Scream is on their Christmas list and I’m pleased to say that it won’t be long before The Mechanical Devil is published at the beginning of February. More about that next time.

In the meantime I’d like to wish all my readers a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year. Cheers!!!