Ask the Author: Ed James
Answered Questions (13)
Ed James
There's a shop in Camden that sells book ideas. £100 each. Bargain.
Ed James
Hi Mike,
Yes, there will be a fourth at some point, entitled Prisoner of War. But I've no idea when I'll get round to it!
Cheers,
Ed
Yes, there will be a fourth at some point, entitled Prisoner of War. But I've no idea when I'll get round to it!
Cheers,
Ed
Ed James
Hi Michael,
Here's a list of the books and the order to approach them:
https://edjamesauthor.co.uk/2020/10/0...
The full list (as of December) of my British police procedurals (there are three Max Carter books, which are American thrillers):
SCOTT CULLEN MYSTERIES SERIES
1. GHOST IN THE MACHINE
2. DEVIL IN THE DETAIL
3. FIRE IN THE BLOOD
4. STAB IN THE DARK
5. COPS & ROBBERS
6. LIARS & THIEVES
7. COWBOYS & INDIANS
8. HEROES & VILLAINS
CULLEN & BAIN SERIES
1. CITY OF THE DEAD
2. WORLD’S END
3. HELL’S KITCHEN
4. GORE GLEN
CRAIG HUNTER SERIES
1. MISSING
2. HUNTED
3. THE BLACK ISLE
DS VICKY DODDS
1. TOOTH & CLAW
2. FLESH & BLOOD
(Note -- there will be another two in the series, a prequel called Blood & Guts, and a sequel called Skin & Bone)
DI SIMON FENCHURCH SERIES
1. THE HOPE THAT KILLS
2. WORTH KILLING FOR
3. WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU
4. IN FOR THE KILL
5. KILL WITH KINDNESS
6. KILL THE MESSENGER
7. DEAD MAN’S SHOES
CORCORAN & PALMER
1. SENSELESS
Here's a list of the books and the order to approach them:
https://edjamesauthor.co.uk/2020/10/0...
The full list (as of December) of my British police procedurals (there are three Max Carter books, which are American thrillers):
SCOTT CULLEN MYSTERIES SERIES
1. GHOST IN THE MACHINE
2. DEVIL IN THE DETAIL
3. FIRE IN THE BLOOD
4. STAB IN THE DARK
5. COPS & ROBBERS
6. LIARS & THIEVES
7. COWBOYS & INDIANS
8. HEROES & VILLAINS
CULLEN & BAIN SERIES
1. CITY OF THE DEAD
2. WORLD’S END
3. HELL’S KITCHEN
4. GORE GLEN
CRAIG HUNTER SERIES
1. MISSING
2. HUNTED
3. THE BLACK ISLE
DS VICKY DODDS
1. TOOTH & CLAW
2. FLESH & BLOOD
(Note -- there will be another two in the series, a prequel called Blood & Guts, and a sequel called Skin & Bone)
DI SIMON FENCHURCH SERIES
1. THE HOPE THAT KILLS
2. WORTH KILLING FOR
3. WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU
4. IN FOR THE KILL
5. KILL WITH KINDNESS
6. KILL THE MESSENGER
7. DEAD MAN’S SHOES
CORCORAN & PALMER
1. SENSELESS
Ed James
Hi Michael, glad to be of service during this troubled time.
To answer your question, Cullen features in the three Hunter novels (the first two are set between 7 and 8), and also the third, set after 8. You see a very different side of him!
And as for continuing, yes, but maybe not in that way. The first Cullen and Bain story, City of the Dead, is out now, and the second is out tomorrow, entitled World’s End. These are shorter stories and right where my head’s at. I think they’re tighter and sadly feature several Bain POV scenes, which are something else to experience. I’ve got plans for a third, and maybe another two if they keep selling well.
Hope you still enjoy them!
Cheers,
Ed
To answer your question, Cullen features in the three Hunter novels (the first two are set between 7 and 8), and also the third, set after 8. You see a very different side of him!
And as for continuing, yes, but maybe not in that way. The first Cullen and Bain story, City of the Dead, is out now, and the second is out tomorrow, entitled World’s End. These are shorter stories and right where my head’s at. I think they’re tighter and sadly feature several Bain POV scenes, which are something else to experience. I’ve got plans for a third, and maybe another two if they keep selling well.
Hope you still enjoy them!
Cheers,
Ed
Ed James
Hi Jonathan,
I've recently retitled four books — Cullen 4 is now Stab in the Dark, 5 is now Cops & Robbers, 6 Liars & Thieves, and Snared has been renamed Tooth and Claw. The reasons are:
1) The previous titles — Dyed in the Wool, Bottleneck, Windchill, Snared — weren't particularly crime-y.
2) Cullen 7 and 8 have a different patterns to the first four, SOMETHING IN THE SOMETHING, so I've extended that pattern. The two sets of four books have running themes — the first four are Cullen as a DC, the second as a DS. Similarly, the Fenchurch books will have two trilogies when book six comes out later this month.
Writing these books gets a bit tiring, I have to say, so any chance I can take to freshen them up, I will. There haven't been any editorial changes to the books, except for SNARED being pretty much rewritten in the T&C form. It's a much better book for it, IMHO. I might do an edit of COPS & ROBBERS to freshen that book up. Watch this space! Anyone who's bought it previously in ebook will be able to get the revised file, should I do so.
Hope that helps clear things up and thanks for the answer.
Cheers,
Ed
I've recently retitled four books — Cullen 4 is now Stab in the Dark, 5 is now Cops & Robbers, 6 Liars & Thieves, and Snared has been renamed Tooth and Claw. The reasons are:
1) The previous titles — Dyed in the Wool, Bottleneck, Windchill, Snared — weren't particularly crime-y.
2) Cullen 7 and 8 have a different patterns to the first four, SOMETHING IN THE SOMETHING, so I've extended that pattern. The two sets of four books have running themes — the first four are Cullen as a DC, the second as a DS. Similarly, the Fenchurch books will have two trilogies when book six comes out later this month.
Writing these books gets a bit tiring, I have to say, so any chance I can take to freshen them up, I will. There haven't been any editorial changes to the books, except for SNARED being pretty much rewritten in the T&C form. It's a much better book for it, IMHO. I might do an edit of COPS & ROBBERS to freshen that book up. Watch this space! Anyone who's bought it previously in ebook will be able to get the revised file, should I do so.
Hope that helps clear things up and thanks for the answer.
Cheers,
Ed
Ed James
Hi Nick,
Yes, there will be more Vicky Dodds. I've done an outline for the second novel, FALLEN, which I'm pretty happy with, but it's a question of when. My publisher were so blown away with the Fenchurch books that they wanted more of them, even before the first one was out. We're discussing what's next for her, hopefully get an answer in the next few weeks and I'll do a blog post to clarify!
Cheers,
Ed
Yes, there will be more Vicky Dodds. I've done an outline for the second novel, FALLEN, which I'm pretty happy with, but it's a question of when. My publisher were so blown away with the Fenchurch books that they wanted more of them, even before the first one was out. We're discussing what's next for her, hopefully get an answer in the next few weeks and I'll do a blog post to clarify!
Cheers,
Ed
Ed James
Hi David,
Sorry, I've only just spotted this question...
To answer, there's no way to tell which sales come from reviews on my end. I do notice spikes occasionally, but there's no concrete link.
What I would suggest is when you're linking to a book from a review site, e.g. Facebook or your blog, that you put the link under a bit.ly short URL. That way you can track clicks and so on. Still won't tell you actual sales.
And sadly, my sales figures are confidential, so I can't share!
Cheers,
Ed
Sorry, I've only just spotted this question...
To answer, there's no way to tell which sales come from reviews on my end. I do notice spikes occasionally, but there's no concrete link.
What I would suggest is when you're linking to a book from a review site, e.g. Facebook or your blog, that you put the link under a bit.ly short URL. That way you can track clicks and so on. Still won't tell you actual sales.
And sadly, my sales figures are confidential, so I can't share!
Cheers,
Ed
Ed James
I force myself to write when I don't feel like it. One of the best pieces of advice I saw was "write shit" - if it's written and it's shit, you can fix it. If it's not written, you can't do anything with it. Get it down - get anything down - and get on with the story. Editing and writing are very different skills - critical and creative - and you should focus on only one at a time.
Ed James
There's a little shop in West London where you can buy ideas for books. Very cheap prices, considering.
Note, this isn't actually true - ideas come when you're not looking. Write them down (notebook, back of a fag packet, Evernote, email, whatever) and develop it when you've got time. Always have a bank of ideas ready and waiting.
Note, this isn't actually true - ideas come when you're not looking. Write them down (notebook, back of a fag packet, Evernote, email, whatever) and develop it when you've got time. Always have a bank of ideas ready and waiting.
Ed James
My advice is to write, make mistakes, learn from them and keep writing. If you write a lot, you'll get better.
Focus on showing character and the story, never tell, i.e. don't have huge info dumps explaining things; either cut it (it's unnecessary to the story) or make it active (have people discuss it if it is necessary).
Work with an editor - whether that's a friend or family member, or a professional. Someone with distance from your book. When you start getting near the end, try to get a professional to tear your book apart - it's not saying you're bad or anything, it's part of the process. The best part - learn from it and take it on the chin.
Focus on showing character and the story, never tell, i.e. don't have huge info dumps explaining things; either cut it (it's unnecessary to the story) or make it active (have people discuss it if it is necessary).
Work with an editor - whether that's a friend or family member, or a professional. Someone with distance from your book. When you start getting near the end, try to get a professional to tear your book apart - it's not saying you're bad or anything, it's part of the process. The best part - learn from it and take it on the chin.
Ed James
Not having to go into an office at a certain time. I've never been so motivated to work in my life, either - I look forward to going to bed so I can get up early and get stuck into work.
Ed James
I'm working on copy edits for SNARED, the first in a new series of novels. I'm also writing FUTURE SHOCK, a sci-fi novella (which I suspect will become a novel before too long) to make sure different bits of my brain are exercised. I'm also doing the outline to CRASH INTO MY ARMS, another police procedural. Next big project will be finishing off BLOOD WILL OUT.
Ed James
It's not something I've ever really encountered - one of my skills is being super-organised so I've got ideas and outlines for future books.
One of the keys to overcoming writer's block is to not make stuff up as you go along; if this is you then you should look at planning your book out before you start writing. Not for everyone but it means you can focus on the what happens independently from the writing.
One of the keys to overcoming writer's block is to not make stuff up as you go along; if this is you then you should look at planning your book out before you start writing. Not for everyone but it means you can focus on the what happens independently from the writing.
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