Work and Fatherhood

Hi everybody.

I've been away from the office for a few months now and will be due to return soon.  Being a father has been a tiring, emotional, yet ultimately rewarding experience and I can't wait for what every day brings.

Despite loving every minute I have spent with my wife and son, Jack, it is almost time for me to get writing again.  As much as writing is my job, it is also my therapy.  I am an emotional, somewhat anxious person, and writing allows me to get a handle on my emotions, and function much better than if I were to bottle things up.  I am also yearning to return to the community that has given me so much love and support.  My personal life is tumultuous to say the least; there are outside factors that damage the  happiness of my wife and I, yet the truth is that when I am with my fans and colleagues, chatting online and working together, I feel invincible.  I live a great portion of my life in doubt, worrying about past errors and fearing wrong decisions in my future, as is the case with people with low self-esteem guilt and self-flagellation issues, but when I am working and writing I truly feel free and happy, and all of the pains in my life are meaningless.  Despite that, it has been a sad 18 months for me as I have witnessed how selfish and nasty people can be in pursuit of their own egos and desires.  I try every day to be a good man, and I hope I succeed, but I am realising that not everyone cares so much about whether or not they are hurting other people.  Worse still, I have realised that being around negative influences can make me negative as well, and that is not who I want to be.  Positivity is the only thing I am going to allow into my son and wife's lives.

One of the outcomes of being a writer I did not expect to find is being so loved and valued by people who have never met me.  It truly is remarkable.  You all make my life such a positive and fun place to be and I am eternally grateful for your love.  The fact that I have 2500 fans and colleagues, with more and more each day, is staggering to me.  I never ever thought I was that interesting.

Going forward, I will be writing a short horror novel based on a haunted photo frame.  I will also be writing another book in the Sarah Stone series, although I am sorry to report that the first book has been a relative flop compared to my horror books.  I obviously need to be build a thriller fan base independently of my horror one.  My main project coming up will be a multiple character horror trilogy/series called The Gates.  Think World War Z crossed with Game of Thrones by way of War of the Worlds. One day I also may get around to a fantasy series called A Kingdom Cracked, but we will see.  What I am learning gradually is that Horror is my home and I should not stray too far.

In the new year, I will also be focusing on graphic novels and foreign editions, but those will be side projects.  My writing comes first.  I am currently in the process of working with an editor to get all of my backlist into the best shape possible.  I have come along a lot as a writer in the last 3 years and I feel my earlier works are not as professional as my current ones.  I also need to to retcon some story lines I won't be following up with, such as New Dynasty and the Black Strand (most of your wouldn't have even caught the references).  I will be starting a new connected universe that will be much more detailed than my previous Damien-Verse and hopefully it will make you never miss the old one.

Anyway, I will be back to work full-time in a month or so and look forward to connecting with you all again. As always I will endeavour to help and support other writers as you all help and support me.  I also look forward to sharing my son's life with you all.  I trust you enough that you all feel like aunts and uncles to my little Jack and he is very lucky to have so many well-wishers.

Love to you all.

Iain