Good grief, it has been a long time since I updated this blog! Almost a year, in fact. In terms of blogging, 2025 seemed to get away from me a bit!
I have at least managed to keep writing my Darkisle fiction, albeit at a slower pace than I would have liked. Darkisle Book 6 is finished and in the editing phase. It even has a name: The Collioure Coincidence. Editing is never fun, but it’s going as well as can be expected and I should be on course for publication at the end of March this year.
I must admit, the further into the series I get, the harder I have to work on the plotting. Each book adds a subplot or two, offers new insights into past events, introduces new characters to keep track of. Which was all well and good in the early books, when all the threads were diverging away from the first book’s opening premise. But now the end of the series is getting nearer, and it’s time to get those unruly (and rather numerous) threads to converge towards an end point. Whether they want to or not!
So, no, the Glennison Darkisle Cases won’t go on forever. I have an arc in mind for them. Not one that I can equate to a firm number of remaining books, but an arc that is without doubt dipping now towards its final touchdown.
I do sometimes wonder what will come next. I think a clean break from Lovecraftian horror might be called for. Science Fiction, perhaps? Or a contemporary thriller, maybe? I have some ideas kicking around, but they’re very much in the background still – Darkisle will be at the forefront of my thoughts for at least a couple of years more!
Mark N Drake 