The Legacy of Vengeance - new title

I am currently working on two separate projects; the first being the second volume of The Chronicles of Prudence and the other a ghost/murder/mystery.  This is just a little post about the latter of the two. The legacy of Vengeance is actually just a working title and I'm not sure yet if it's what I'm actually going to go with.  I'm not completely happy with it to be honest, but I'll see when I've finished if it feels right or not.

The story centres around the character of Alex Sherwood, a young doctor with a successful career and a seemingly stable and secure future.  However, Alex has a dark and tragic event in his past which haunts him continually.  As a young boy of sixteen Alex was living in the small market town of Daringby, a peaceful and happy existence.  During the summer of that year a team of archaeologists arrive in the town to investigate a local ancient monument.  Alex and a group of his friends volunteer to help out on the dig and soon develop a keen interest in the subject.  Other local people however are not so keen on  digging up the site as there are a lot of local suspicions about the place being haunted, and they prefer to stay away.  The idea of ghosts though, just piques the interest of Alex and his friends and one night they decide to go up to the site to do a spot of ghost hunting.  They become separated in an early morning mist and rather than ghost,s a much more sinister protagonist stalks them and one of their number, Alex's girlfriend, Lydia Garnham is brutally murdered.
As the police investigation into her murder drags on with little success local gossip and suspicion begins to fall on Alex; a lover's tiff that got out of hand being the way most thoughts are going. Although there is little evidence to really point the finger at anyone let alone Alex the gossips do not relent and eventually Alex and his  family move away and start a new life in a new town.
For fifteen years Alex never goes back to Daringby although what happened there continues to haunt him.  He finally returns to visit an old friend and discovers that all those that were with Lydia at the site on the night she died are still just as disturbed by what happened as Alex.  Why was her killer never found?  Why was there such a lack of evidence?  Why didn't any of them see anything?  And, what happened to the murder weapon?  Once he is there Alex soon realises that he can't just walk away from Daringby again; he has to do something, however remote his chances of success to find some answers.
He joins forces with Abi Jordan, the daughter of one of the archaeologists who had been working on the site at the time of Lydia's death, but he then discovers that Abi has her own motivation to find the truth when it becomes obvious that her father is not being entirely honest about his own involvement in the events of that night.

So that's it, a very brief outline that I hope is enough to make you want to read more!  I am working on having it ready for publication by the end of April, but as you all know I'm rubbish with deadlines so be prepared for that to get pushed back a little!  I will keep you updated!

Kim

Reflections and Resolutions

This is not the most original of subjects for this time of year I know, but like everyone I am feeling a little reflective. 2014 was definitely something of a memorable year for me; getting my work into print was a dream come true and I still can't believe I can actually call myself a published author now! I have had such a lot of support from friends and family and I really want to thank everyone for that especially all those who bought the book and have been so positive about it. It's a great motivation to know that others are actually getting some enjoyment out of what you are doing.  A special mention has to go out to my daughter, Kay who has helped me so much with all the technical stuff.  I really couldn't have done this without her.
 I didn't really make much use of the time I've had off for Christmas - which wasn't a lot I have to say - but Christmas is for relaxing with the family, having fun and eating chocolate which I certainly managed to achieve!

So, resolutions.............

Well this is easy; I need to be a little more organised with my writing, both the stories and this blog.  I know, I couldn't be much worse surely - at least where the blog is concerned!  I am going to attempt to stick to deadlines a little more.  I did ask Santa for a few more hours in the day or days in the week, but he wasn't very forthcoming so I'm going to have to make do with what I've got! Oh yes, and a little less chocolate from now on!

For the first half of the year I have two projects on the go, the second volume of 'The Chronicles of Prudence' and 'The Legacy of Vengeance' a sort of romantic ghost mystery aimed at a bit of an older audience.  I am setting myself the goal of having them both finished by April.  'The Chronicles of Prudence' shouldn't be a problem as that is in the final stages of writing and the ghost story is one that I have had kicking around now for a long time so it's just a case of reworking and updating. I will be doing a separate post shortly all about 'The Legacy of Vengeance' and what to expect from this story.

So, that's it - I'm really excited about the coming year and I hope you'll stay with me through all that 2015 has to hold.

Kim