Yeah, I probably owe you guys a proper update. But so much has happened (all good) since my last post that I don’t know where to start. So I’ll keep it short and just tell you the four things you need to know right now.
1. I’m two-thirds of the way through the first draft 😃
This is exciting! I’ve now drafted 15 of the book’s (estimated) 22 chapters. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the main reason the draft is taking me so long is, through my research, I’ve found Mary Ann Britland’s story to be even more rich and complex than I first thought. Which is good news for you because it means a longer and more interesting book, but bad news for my anticipated timelines. The moral here is that writing books and investigating 140-year-old murder mysteries are massive jobs. Who’d have thunk it?
This messy desk proves I’m working.
2. I’m going to be in an anthology…
..of creative essays about Manchester’s hidden and forgotten spaces. It’ll be a fascinating book and it’s due for release in 2020. I’ll share more info in a couple of months.
3. I have a Pinterest account
I find a lot of cool images in my research and often save them to help me with my writing (if nothing else, they help me imagine the scenes). But it seemed a bit greedy to just keep hoarding them on my hard drive, so I’ve decided to share some of my faves. If you’re into Manchester/Lancashire, weird and radical history, witchy folklore and, of course, Mary Ann Britland, check it out!Â
Yeah!
4. I’ll be updating the blog a lot more this year
Really, truly, swearsies. Outside of my Mary Ann Britland work, 2018 was a scramble and didn’t leave much time for blogging. Which is a shame, because I had some pretty neat adventures that I didn’t get to share with you. Like, did you know I met my murder cousin? Or that I lurked around Strangeways Prison while an abandoned mill next door burnt to the ground? Or that I drank a beer in one of my subject’s (Thomas Dixon, the husband of Mary Ann’s third victim)Â old houses? Yeah. That’s why I need to be blogging.
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